Jump Chain Gothic 1 - Mass Effect 2
by gothicjedi666
Summary: My second Jump Chain Story. So you'll need to have read the first story for this one to make sense. This story will be posted a few chapters at a time rather than all at once. Normal warnings apply, this story will have swearing, killing, sex, and other adult stuff.
1. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Awakening

**Author Notes**

If you don't know all about Jump Chain and Mass Effect then please don't read this story as it will make no sense to you.

Also I will posting his story a few chapters at a time. It will be a longer story than the last one and easier to post in chunks.

 **Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 1**

 **Awakening**

 **Cosmic Warehouse. Somewhere Outside Of Reality.**

I looked around at the product of all my work and smiled. I'd really looted the Mass Effect verse for nearly everything that it was worth and I wasn't even halfway done with this Jump. Plus I was sure that some of the really good stuff I wouldn't find until I joined back up with Shepard.

All around me on the shelves were example of Mass Effect technology, everything from entertainment systems and coffee makers, to VI interfaces. Which didn't seem like much worth boasting about, however there was far more of value stored away on portable hard drives, and data discs, some of which were Prothean in make, but what could be seen with the naked eye was still impressive.

I'd been collecting firearms and I had many models of firearms carefully packed away inside cases that were ready for use. Heavy pistols such as the M-3 Predator, M-6 Carnifex and M-5 Phalanx. Machine guns such as the M-4 Shrunken, M-9 Tempest and M-12 Locust. Then came the rifles the M-8 Avenger and M-15 Vindicator. Last but not least were the heavy weapons the M-100 Grenade Launcher and ML-77 Missile Launcher, that last one Shepard had brought me just after she became a Spectre and never once had I used it.

However by far the most noticeable of all the items within the Cosmic Warehouse were the Kodiak shuttle and the Mako.

Nicknamed the "Combat Cockroach" by Alliance marines due to its durability and looks, the Kodiak drop shuttle was an interplanetary vehicle operated by a pilot and a co-pilot, but it could be handled by just a pilot and the shuttles VI. I let Cortana interface with the shuttle when I flew it which meant a smooth ride as she was far better than some VI.

The Kodiak's substantial element zero core allowed for flight by entirely countering the vehicle's mass. Its small thrusters were only for directional control only, so if the mass effect field ever failed, the vehicle was about as flyable as a huge brick.

Since this was a cheap civilian model it had no weapons, and only basic kinetic barriers, but still it was still better than any space craft ever produced on my world. If I ever got back to any version of Earth in early 21st Century I was flying it to the moon just so I could check the Apollo landing site. Which would be easily done in such a fine shuttle.

This shuttle was also durable. The prototype Kodiak had been extensively tested in the sulphuric acid and extreme temperatures of Venus, and while this civilian model wasn't a tough I could still land it on Venus, as long as I didn't stay for very long. Not that I really wanted to go there.

The M35 Mako was designed to fulfil the role of rapid deployment that its predecessor, the M29 Grizzly, fell short of accomplishing. Though the interior was cramped, something I knew from personal experience, the M35 was small enough to be carried in the cargo bay of ship and could be easily deployed on a number of worlds. It also didn't take as much of the internal volume of a Cosmic Warehouse as a Jumper might think.

With its turreted 155mm mass accelerator cannon and coaxial-mounted machine gun, the Mako could provide a fire team with weapon support as well as mobility. Since Alliance marines might be required to fight on any world in a variety of planetary environments, the Mako was environmentally sealed and powered by a long lasting hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell.

The vehicle's armour was tough enough to withstand high drops, extreme heat and cold as well as rough terrain. The Mako's suspension and propulsion system allowed the vehicle to adapt to various terrain. For deployment on low-gravity planetoids, the Mako was equipped with micro-thrusters and a small element zero core, which could be used to increase mass and provide greater traction.

The Mako's hull was covered with laser detection arrays, which forewarned the crew of enemy laser-guided ordnance. Ground-penetrating radar allowed for the detection of anti-vehicle mines and other subsurface anomalies.

To put all that more simply the Mako was a sci fi tank, and I had such amusing ideas for what could be done with it. For example if my next jump was to the Lord of the Rings world then with the Mako I could drive Frodo right to Mount Doom. Although I might not do that since then I'd be stuck on a world with primitive tech for ten years with nothing to do.

By far the most numerous objects in the warehouse were Prothean stasis pods, well actually they were replicas built by myself and Tali, but they would serve my purpose.

Should things go really badly during the Reaper invasion and the Crucible didn't work out I planned to fill the pods with people I cared about and then find somewhere to hide until the Jump was over.

Then I could let them out at the start of the next Jump while hoping they'd be able to live some sort of life in another universe. Granted I didn't think any of the people I knew would hide while the Reapers were slaughtering the galaxy, but I felt better for having the option.

I figured that this cycle would be a long one, and I'd have time to go hide if things did go tits up.

At least in this time line the Citadel governments were not pretending that the Reapers didn't exist. They were preparing for a massive invasion by spending a lot of money on defence.

While this might seem like a good thing it was bad in some ways. Each race was focusing on its own defence and not making plans for an allied force. Only if every warship in Citadel space joined together would we have even a chance, and even then we'd need the Crucible. The Reapers were too advanced and there were so many of them, a conventional war wasn't a war we could win.

Also because all the races were looking inward the frontier worlds and the Terminus Systems were becoming even more lawless. Slavery was increasing, as were pirate attacks and raids on colonies. Worse the Terminus Systems were more fractured than ever so when the Reapers came they'd stream roll over the Terminus Systems and harvest many worlds allowing them to quickly build up an army of husks.

The Terminus Systems were located on the far side of the Attican Traverse, beyond the space administered by the Citadel Council or claimed by humanity's Systems Alliance. These systems were populated by a loose affiliation of minor species, united only in their refusal to acknowledge the political authority of the Council.

Their independence came at a price; the Terminus System were fraught with conflict. War among the various worlds in that part of the galaxy were common, as governments and dictators gained power only to lose it during the next rebellion. While the Terminus Systems as a whole had no government, the Omega station served as a trade capital, it was more or less the only stability within the region.

Also the region was a haven for illegal activities, particularly piracy and the slave trade. Pirates and slavers from the Terminus System were known to invade the nearby Attican Traverse. These attacks were typically small raids against poorly-defended colonies.

The Council rarely retaliated, as sending patrols into the Terminus Systems could unify the disparate groups against their common foe, triggering a long and costly war. Now they didn't bother at all preferring to focus on protecting their more populated worlds.

Despite the dangers, Citadel races had not been deterred from travelling through and even extensively colonising the Terminus Systems themselves. Humans, turians, salarians, elcor, asari, and volus all had a sizable colonial presences there.

Since the Citadel Council's authority was nonexistent, in the Terminus Systems these colonies were often fully independent from any interplanetary government. The Terminus Systems also include the home worlds of the quarians and the vorcha, but the quarian words were all controlled by the geth these days.

Shaking my head I focused on finishing my inspection of my Cosmic Warehouse. Soon I'd once more be running around the galaxy with Commander Shepard, and I wouldn't have time to keep track of what tech I had and what I wanted. Best to get my inventory done now so that if I did come across some rare bit of tech I'd know if I already had it stored away or not.

Still while working I couldn't help wondering if Shepard had woken up yet, and if she was currently under attack by killer robots. If she was I didn't worry, she could handle robots, and it wasn't as any knew where she was.

(Line Break)

 **Cerberus Space Station. Location Classifed.**

For Jacob Taylor, this was all a total nightmare. There were security Machs shooting at anything that moved, and Blue Suns mercenaries also killing anything that moved, and he still couldn't raise Miranda on the comm.

Then, as if to make matters worse, the Station VI had just announced that Commander Shepard's containment cell had been breached. Which meant that someone had reached the Spectre.

Miranda was going to be all kinds of pissed off if anything untoward happened to the Commander. Especially after the billions of credits that the Illusive Man had sank into this project over the last two years.

"To hack the mechs, you've gotta have top level access" Jacob muttered to himself as he gunned down a LOKI mech.

His head shot cut the machine off before it could finish using its bland voice to request a surrender. Then its on board power cell overloaded causing a small explosion. But what could you expect when you brought cheap mass produced robot guards rather than hire experienced men and women.

Still the many bodies Jacob saw lying in pools of blood were a silent testament to the brutal efficiency of both the Blue Suns mercenaries and the stations' Machs, at least when they were pitched against unarmed civilians.

"Maybe Miranda decided to clean house" Jacob whispered to himself "Get rid of the expendable work force and all".

This would hardly be he first time that an employer had decided that a finished project would be even more secure if every person involved never lived long enough to talk about it.

"No this project is Miranda's work" he said to himself "No way she'd torch it, not without a really good reason".

Two more LOKI mechs came around the corner and Jacob grabbed one in a biotic hold, and used it to bash the other machine. Not the best use of biotics, as doing stuff like that was tiring, but damn it had felt good.

Now he was starting to wonder if spending all this time on the station had been a good idea. He'd not stood on real ground for a while now, and since he wasn't smart enough to have worked on the project he'd not had much to do or much to talk about with people. It was possible he'd started to go a little strange. Things had been tense on this station for a while now. Plus it didn't help that mercs and mechs were trying to kill him.

Jacob stopped thinking when he saw yet another Cerberus tech get gunned down by a YMIR mech, the walking battle tank raked gunfire across the reinforced screen cutting down the tech. The Mech fired at Jacob but its weapons couldn't break the barrier between them so he was unharmed.

"Obstruction!" The YMIR announced "Continuing Search and Destroy Protocol!".

The hulking mech stomped off in search of easier prey.

"Miranda would make for Shepard" Jacob said to himself.

He really needed some time off, or at least a change of scenery, but he could worry about that later. For now Jacob needed to find Miranda and/or Shepard, and then get the hell out of here.

The dark skinned human moved quickly, now longer distracted by odd thoughts, yet he was still taken by surprise when he rounded the next corner, and he soon felt a pistol being pressed into his head

"Wait!" a familiar voice called out "You can't kill him! That's Jacob Taylor, he's our head of Security".

That was Miranda Lawson who had just spoken.

"Yeah he's the head of security in a place that's held me prisoner for two years" another voice said.

Jacob gasped.

"Shepard?" he said "You're awake!".

It had to be her. She sounded just like in the interview Jacob had heard, he couldn't remember the reporter, but he remember the interview.

"Listen to me Commander" Miranda was now saying "I know that waking up here must be confusing, but Jacob isn't your enemy, and you'll need our help to get out of here alive".

The pressure Jacob had felt went away and then he saw the Phalanx pistol, that the Commander had just used to threaten Jacob retreat into a holster. Shepard had even found some N7 armour somewhere. Jacob figured that Miranda must have secured a set for the Commander at some point during the last two years. Cerberus tended to be at getting what it wanted.

"Okay, priorities" Shepard said "We can get to know each other later. For now tell me what the hell is going on?".

Even for Joan this was all kinds of crazy.

"Someone hacked the mechs and we've got Blue Suns mercenaries cutting down anything they see" Jacob answered "This entire facility is normally completely dark, with little or no contact with the outside world as far as the rest of the galaxy knows, we don't exist. Now mechs can malfunction, but with the mercs being here its pretty clear that someone important knows what's going on here and the timing makes me think that this person knew you were going to walk up soon".

There were a number of people or groups that would love to get their hands on Shepard, but most wouldn't use the Blue Suns. Governments like the Salarians or the Asari would send the STG or commandos. The Alliance would send a whole fleet.

"We might want to make for the shuttle bays" Miranda suggested "That's the only way off the station. If anyone's left alive, that's where they'll be".

While making there way to the shuttle bay they were accosted by several mercenaries. The thugs had locked down a main hallway and were using it as a natural choke point. Jacob was ready to pull back and find another way to the shuttle bay when Miranda fired off a massive biotic attack. The mercs not killed were quickly gunned down due to how stunned they were.

"Impressive" Shepard commented "I've worked with a few biotics before. Never saw them doing that anything effective".

Once they got passed the Blue Suns thugs, the three humans found a member of Cerberus who was still alive. Only not for long as a M-4 Shuriken sub-machine gun ended his life. Jacob watched in shock as the bald man's corpse sank to the floor.

The dark-haired beauty that had gunned him down, then stepped over his body, sparing the corpse no more thought than she would a empty food container.

"What the Hell, Miranda?" Jacob said "I know Wilson was a jerk, but you can't just shoot people like that".

Shepard was lost at this point, but she was aware enough to keep her gun pointed at Miss Lawson in case the Cerberus Operative felt like shooting someone else.

"Wilson betrayed us all," she said, sounding unconcerned about the issue "He led the Blue Suns right to the base".

Jacob cursed under his breath.

"Any idea why?" Shepard asked, her gun not quite lowering.

"For the money, I suppose," the genetically-engineered woman said with shrug. "Wilson recently came into a small fortune from an unknown source".

Perhaps more would have been spoken on this matter, but this was when the station's VI informed everyone that the reactor was in the process of overloading.

"The station has been totally overrun" Miranda stated "The VI is programmed to blow this place rather than let it fall into enemy hands".

As group the three humans quickly moved through the airlock and into one of the shuttles. As soon as they were sat down, the doors shut, and Miranda nodded through a window into the cockpit, prompting the pilot to take off.

Once they were a distance away, the pilot helpfully turned to port so they could watch the station explode. It looked really cool.

(Line Break)

As the shuttle accelerated to speeds faster than light, the three humans settled down to talk.

"Not that the thought of a Cerberus base blowing up isn't nice, but was that really necessary Miss Lawson?" Shepard asked, "There might have been evidence of who Wilson was working for".

Joan Shepard was smart enough to figure out that Miranda Lawson had wired the reactor to blow. Mostly likely she'd done it before waking the Commander up. She wouldn't have wanted Shepard to fall into enemy hands not after spending all that money on her.

"No need. I know that Wilson was working for the Shadow Broker, as were the Blue Suns." Miranda replied.

She obviously expected everyone to simply take her at her word.

"Why would the Blue Suns and the Shadow Broker want to attack Cerberus?" Shepard enquired.

Well the Blue Suns would do it for money. What Shepard wondered was why an information dealer would go to war with a group of terrorists.

"Our boss will explain everything," the genetically-engineered woman replied firmly "He wants to talk to you. Once you do I'm sure you'll join our cause".

Shepard laughed, it wasn't a nice laugh.

"Join your cause?" Shepard said "What makes you think that I'm joining up with a bunch of terrorists?".

Joan remembered taking down Cerberus cell back when she'd been hunting Saren. The crap she'd seen painted a grim picture of Cerberus.

"That's all going to have to be answered by the boss" the former Corsair said with a shrug "But I can assure you that, whatever else that you might think of Cerberus, this time we're on the right side. Working with us is the only way you'll be able save tens of thousands of lives".

Joan didn't trust any of them, but if ten of thousands of lives were at stake then she would at least listen.

(Line Break)

 **Apartment. Omega.**

The Terminus Systems were so weird. Only here would you get pornographic commercials while waiting for a call to connect. I did my best to ignore what a Hanar was currently doing to an asari. Partly because I was jealous, due to having the Cipher and the whole Jump Chain thing I couldn't perform the Joining with an Asari.

While you could meld without having sex and vice versa, the asari liked to meld during sex, because it was a rush, and I was unable to stop them from seeing memories I didn't want to be shared. Alas Omega was full of young and horny asari maidens all looking for a good time.

"Gothic" greeted Liara as the call connected "Good you got my message".

Indeed I had. Hence why I was calling her back.

"My sources just informed me that a few squads of Blue Suns were hired by the Shadow Broker to attack a Cerberus base" the asari told me "I've not gotten any word on what happened to the base, but judging by what you've told me I think the Broker wanted Joan, and that she must be alive again".

I'd done some jobs for Liara over the last two years, and she'd helped me find some tech. During the time I'd told her all about Jump Chain, filling in her on details she hadn't already known, and I'd offered to take her with me. Given that the end of this jump was more than five years away there was plenty of time for her to make up her mind.

The news about the mercs and the Broker surprised me, but there were bound to be some changes given that I'd messed with the time line. As for who wanted Shepard, I was sure that there was a very long list of people who either want her to stay dead or to control her. The Shadow Broker might have been intending to sell Shepard to one of those groups, or even to keep her for himself.

"She'll head to Freedom's Progress, the most recent colony to be attacked" I said.

Liara seemed surprised.

"Tali just sent me a message letting me know that she's taking a small team to that colony" the blue woman said "I don't think you ever mentioned that. Any idea why?".

I'd not mentioned just in case Tali rushed off too soon and got caught or killed by the Collectors. That was why I wasn't at the colony now waiting to hook up the commander. I'd either get harvested or I'd have to hide nearby and watch helplessly while all the people were taken.

"There's a quarian at Freedom's Progress" I informed the asari information dealer "Tali is going there to recover him. He'll give Shepard enough data to prove its the Collectors abducting humans. The quarian must have been able to send a distress signal to his people. That would explain how the quarians get there before anyone else".

I could see how conflicted Liara felt.

"Perhaps we should just tell Joan everything" she suggested.

I had valid reasons not to that.

"Too much is at stake" I said "If events spin out of control then the Reapers will win. We have to do things right, to guide Shepard down the right path. Besides she's going to be on a Cerberus ship. If they even suspected how much I knew they'd come after me".

Of course I planned to change a few things. Like not letting the crew of the new Normandy get abducted by Collectors. But everything else had to work out. I couldn't even get an Reaper IFF early because then Shepard would never board that dead Reaper and met Legion. Without Legion it would impossible to forge an alliance between the Geth and the Quarians, meaning one race could be wiped out.

Sure I could warn the Alliance about Horizon, but they wouldn't listen to me, because according to Anderson they considered me a rogue.

"Shepard must stop the Collectors and survive the mission" I was now saying "Or there won't be anyone to unite the galaxy once the Reapers arrive. Besides if the Commander knew how important she was, do you think she'd want the responsibility. I sure wouldn't want to go around knowing that the fate of the galaxy rested on me. The pressure might be too much even for her".

We'd spoken on this matter before. Really it was for the best if Shepard raced around the galaxy putting together a team, she was going to need the new Normandy, and if she knew what Cerberus would do in the next game she'd go after the Illusive Man rather than focus on the Collectors. Anyway she was going to need more allies for ME3, and she would earn their loyalty while preparing to attack the Collector Base.

Besides the start of ME3 was the best time to strike at Cerberus, when the Alliance was desperate and Earth was under attack. Then we'd be listened to and we'd have the back we needed.

We needed the plans for the Crucible too, and the only place to get those was Mars, which we didn't have access to. My attempts to find the plans elsewhere had failed.

"Let events play out for now" I said to Liara "Focus on dealing the Shadow Broker, we'll need his resources soon".

The asari information broker nodded in agreement, and with that the call ended.

(Line Break)

 **Cerberus Base. Location Unknown.**

"Commander Shepard," the head of Cerberus greeted.

It was hard to tell due to the levels of light, but Joan could see that the human sitting before her, although he was actually light years away, had cybernetic eyes of some sort.

"Illusive Man," she replied, while crossing her arms "I thought that we'd be meeting face-to-face".

The head of Cerberus had no intention of meeting face to face with Shepard since he couldn't be sure he'd be able to control such a meeting. The commander might just shoot the Illusive Man on sight. Not many people would blame her for doing it.

"A necessary security precaution," the leader of Cerberus explained "Certainly understandable, in light of recent events. You're not the only one that the Shadow Broker is after".

Not many people could see the pattern, but the galaxy's most powerful information dealer had been making some odd moves recently, and even the Illusive Man didn't understand what it all meant.

"Yeah, what's up with that, anyway?" Joan wondered "Why would the Shadow Broker be after Cerberus? Why attack me?".

"We're using all of our resources to find out," the Illusive Man said coolly, while tapping a few controls on his right armrest. "Perhaps your former teammate Liara T'soni knows something. She's been rumoured to be working for the Shadow Broker, or possible against him depending on who you ask".

Shepard simply couldn't be live that her old girlfriend would ever work for the Shadow Broker, but then Joan had never imagined that Cerberus would try to recruit her, or that she'd be meeting with the Illusive Man. She'd woken up in a very strange galaxy.

"So why have you been holding onto me?" Shepard wished to know "Miranda Lawson assures me that you brought me back for good reasons, but I'm not sure I believe her".

Terrorists weren't known for being nice to people.

"We brought you back because Humanity needs you, Shepard," the Illusive Man replied "The Alliance can't be counted on to protect us. You may be the only hope we have of surviving the greatest threat of our brief existence".

Joan was now starting to understand some of what was going on.

"You mean the Reapers," Joan stated rather than asked.

"Good to see that your memory's intact," the Illusive Man said while putting out his cigarette "The war began with Saren and the Geth, and its still going. Human colonies, mostly in the Terminus Systems, have been found abandoned, their populations gone and with no clues to how or why they went missing".

Now Shepard was standing up straight. She was eager to find out what was going on.

I'll assume that you've eliminated the standard explanations; slaves, pirate attacks, that sort of thing" the saviour of the Citadel said.

"Commander, we aren't talking about a few people missing," the Illusive Man told her "All human life simply vanishes with no signs of a fight. And no pirate gang or raider group has come fourth to claim credit for these attacks. There has been an increase in slavery recently, but it if slavers were behind this then we'd be finding the missing people on the slave market, but we're not".

Shepard was not liking the sound of any of this.

"The Alliance would never allow something like this" Joan insisted "At the very least, Anderson would've...".

She wasn't able to finish what she'd been about to say.

"David Anderson has been doing all he can, but he's only an adviser despite your support for him taking a seat on the Council. The Council claims that no resources can be spared for a direct search for the culprits, they are even implying that if humanity is worthy of being on the Council that we should be able to handle a few abductions without their help. The truth is that everyone is looking out for themselves. Even with the massive military build up no one is going to spare ships to look out for colonies in the Terminus Systems and the Traverse".

Located near the lawless Terminus Systems, the Attican Traverse was the frontier of Citadel-controlled space. The area contained many worlds once inhabited by the Protheans, and many mass relays were located throughout the systems of the Traverse.

Colonies established in the Traverse were always at risk from raids and attacks from the nearby Terminus Systems, but the presence of so many worlds both rich in resources and Prothean ruins, ensured that the Citadel races kept setting up colonies there.

Though the Citadel officially claimed the region as its own, the groups within the Terminus Systems had claimed many of the planets in that part of the galaxy. Since they were unwilling to engage in an all-out war against the Terminus Systems, the Citadel adopted a military non-interference policy in the region.

The Council made no objection to the Systems Alliance's attempt at expansion in the Traverse, mostly because the large Alliance Navy could bring peace to unstable regions without the Council needing to get involved. However the peace keeping and expansion had been dialled back over the last couple of years as the Alliance did its best to prepare for coming of the Reapers.

"We believe that whoever was behind the attack on the Normandy is also responsible for the attacks on these colonies" the Illusive Man was now saying "While the colonies haven't been disappearing very quickly until recently, humans in the Terminus system started vanishing in small numbers not long after you defeated Sovereign, and it's only human colonies that have been attacked and abducted"

Shepard pondered this.

"And you think it's the Reapers," she deduced.

The leader of Cerberus was now lightning up another cigarette.

"As I said before, the abductions began after you defeated Sovereign. The colonists have been taken by some means that leaves no trace, not a shot fired in self defence" the Illusive Man went on to say "These colonies weren't defenceless, they had combat mechs and personal firearms, but they are never used. This implies that whatever method is being use to disable the colonies occurs so quickly that they have no chance to raise a defence. That in turn implies a technology way beyond our own, combine that with the timing and its not unreasonable to think it might be the Reapers. Besides the Reapers were known for harvesting populations during their war with the Prothaens, or at least that is what Javik has been telling people".

Now Shepard was confused.

"Who's Javik" she asked.

"Your old XO Gothic, along with some a few other members of your team, recovered a living a Prothean shortly after the Normandy was destroyed" the Illusive Man answered "Javik has given us a lot of information about the Reapers and has been aiding the Citadel races as they prepare for the invasion".

Shepard was still confused.

"Wait so Gothic found a living Prothean, Liara is trying is trying to take down the Shadow Broker, next you'll be telling me Wrex is ruling over all krogans" Joan said.

The Illusive Man shifted in his seat.

"I wouldn't go that far" the leader of Cerberus was now saying "But Urdnot Wrex has taken command of his clan, and he is in he process of building an alliance that could unite the Krogan".

"What about Garrus and Tali?" she asked.

"Tali'Zorah is with the Migrant Fleet serving as a sort of special forces commando under the direct command of the admiralty board" Joan was told "Garrus quit his job at C-Sec and began hunting criminals as a freelancer, I lost track of him some time ago when he entered the Terminus Systems",

Shepard didn't know if she should laugh or cry, this was all so odd to her.

"I'm out of it for a little while and everyone gets delusions of grandeur" she muttered to herself before speaking more clearly "So where is Gothic now?".

A glass of something strong was finished by the Illusive Man before he spoke again.

"The Alliance believes that he's gone rogue and they disavowed him some time ago" the head of Cerberus informed the commander "He was last seen in the Terminus Systems. It seems that in your absence, Gothic has decided to pursue his own agenda, which involves gathering information and odd bits of technology. I tried to persuade him to work with us, but he left for the Terminus Systems after spending time on the Quarian Migrant Fleet".

Shepard was going to ask about that once she caught up with her former Staff Lt. He better damn well have been looking after Tali. Also she was glad that the Cipher hadn't fallen into the hands of Cerberus. Although if there was in fact a real life Prothean around the Cipher would seem less important.

"Okay so I'll be looking up some old friends soon" Shepard decided "But what about Ashley Williams, you never mentioned her".

The Illusive Man produced a bottle from somewhere off screen and refilled his glass before speaking again.

"Ashely Williams was recently promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and has been assigned as part of an outreach program between the Alliance and our most distant colonies. Its basically just for show, to reassure the people on the frontier that they haven't been forgotten when in fact for the most part they have".

Shepard was pleased for her old friend. She'd gone from Gunnery Chief to 1st Lieutenant in just two years. Impressive.

"Her real mission involves finding out if Cerberus is behind the attacks on our colonies" the Illusive Man then added.

That got Shepard's interest.

"We already suspect that the Alliance is trying to prove that we're behind the colony abductions, they are looking for a scapegoat so they don't have to take the blame for not protecting humanity" the Illusive Man went on to say "We're hoping that you can be more reasonable".

Shepard was now starting to understand her role here.

"You want me to investigate this so you can clear your names," she concluded.

The Illusive Man nodded.

"That's part of it" he then said "But we brought you back to fight the Reapers, and I promise you Commander that this is the work of the Reapers. We need to prove it, then maybe the Council will take action".

Shepard wasn't so sure now.

"Or maybe you want divert attention from yourselves" said the commander.

Although given the amount of time and money spent on bringing her back to life Joan figured that there was more to this than simply diverting attention. No Cerberus needed her for something important.

"Cerberus has always been concerned with the preservation and advancement of Humanity," the Illusive Man stated "So tell me, Commander. How does abducting colonists from the Terminus systems further human interests?".

Really it didn't. Cerberus was anti-alien, so why would it target human colonies when there were any alien colonies out there just as vulnerable.

"Good point," said Shepard "So what do you want me to do about it?"

The Illusive Man shifted in his seat again.

"Right now, all I want is for you to investigate," he replied "The latest colony to go dark is Freedom's Progress. I've arranged transportation, so go in and take a look. After you've seen the disappearances for yourself, if you don't think that this is a matter worth you pursuing, I'll have the Normandy drop you off on whatever you'd like".

Shepard wasn't sure she'd heard that right.

"I'm sorry, the Normandy?" she asked

The Illusive Man's smile was hidden from sight.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. In anticipation of your acceptance, I put together a crew and found you a ship" he explained "If I'm going to send the Galaxy's greatest hero off to fight an unknown hostiles then there's no sense in sending her off without the very best that we have to offer. Your pilot should be waiting for you outside. Let me know what you decide".

After the Illusive Man cut the connection, Shepard turned around and was startled to see a familiar face looking back at her.

"Shit, is that you Joker?".

Joker as her ship's pilot. Well at least some things were staying the same.


	2. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Freedom's Prog 1

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 2**

 **Freedom's Progress 1.**

 **Cerberus Station. Normandy SSV 2.**

"Welcome to the new Normandy, Commander" Miranda greeted as Shepard and Joker stepped through the airlock.

Shepard watched Joker hobble towards the helm, he might have just been eager to get behind the wheel, so to speak, but Joan couldn't helping wondering if pilot simply wanted to avoid talking to Miss Lawson.

The saviour of the Citadel checked out her new XO. She was stuffed into the same body-hugging catsuit that she'd been wearing before. Shepard had assumed it to be a one-time-only thing, but apparently that outfit was a favourite of the Operatives. Not that Shepard minded too much, she like to look at girls and boys, but she couldn't help worrying if the outfit was going to prove distracting to male members of her crew. Also she wondered how Miranda managed to go through life without any proper pockets.

"It's a big ship" Shepard commented.

Miranda rolled her eyes.

"The new Normandy is twice as big as her predecessor" Lawson said.

Which wasn't a good thing in Shepard's view. The old Normandy had been small, sleek and deadly, like a dagger. The perfect ship for a Spectre.

"The ship is very similar to the Systems Alliance's SSV Normandy SR-1" Miranda was now saying "having been based on the design layout of the original. However the Normandy SR-2 has several key differences. Cerberus designed the ship with more crew-oriented comforts by including civilian-grade accommodations. The ship still retains the SSV Normandy SR-1's stealth characteristics. However, unlike the SR-1, the SR-2 needs a proper dock when landing, and she's not equipped for a Mako drop, so you'll be taking shore parties down to planets using a shuttle".

Shepard remembered well that her old crew had never like how cramped the first Normandy was. Aside from Tali, who saw the SSV 1 as being half way towards a being ghost ship due it not having enough crew or being loud enough.

Also she figured that no one would miss the Mako, sure the fire power and mobility was nice, but it had always been a rough drive, and no matter people said Gothic had never been a better driver than her.

As the Commander wandered through the CIC. Miranda began to supply more information.

"The Tantalus Drive core is more powerful than the original, and we have improved scanners, and sensors. Even the ship's fuel cells have a greater storage capacity, allowing the ship to travel further before we have to refuel. The SR2 Normandy is superior to the original SSV Normandy in every way".

Which was good because the original Normandy had been no match for the unknown ship which had destroyed it. Shepard just knew that the unknown ship was somehow connected the missing colonies, and that she'd get a chance for payback. A more powerful ship would help with that. But already Shepard could see room for improvements.

"Why didn't you upgrade any of the Normandy's defencive or offencive capabilities beyond the original design?" Shepard asked.

Jacob stepped forward.

"Ma'am, I was made aware of some secret development projects regarding prototype heavy ship armour. I could look into it if you'd like" the former Alliance marine

Shepard looked at the man with narrowed eyes, she wasn't sure what to make of the former alliance marines. In the end she decided that for now she'd extend him some trust. He simply didn't give off the same kind of vibes that Lawson and other Cerberus folks did.

"Thank you, Mister Taylor," Shepard replied "The last Normandy had its hull cut through like it was made of butter, I don't want that to happen again".

This was when a new voice spoke.

"My analysis of the original Normandy's flight data recorders indicates that our current ablative armour would be insufficient defence against the particle weapons array that were used by the unknown hostile. I recommend upgrading our armour as soon as possible".

Shepard looked at the glowing blue white ball that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"I am the Normandy's Enhanced-Defense-Intelligence. The crew has taken to referring to me as EDI," the glowing ball said

Shepard was unhappy to say the least.

"You installed an AI aboard the ship? Are you guys insane?" the red headed woman demanded to know "Do I NEED to remind you people about Sovereign, the Geth, and the whole fuck up at that goddamn moon base!".

Shepard had been too far from Earth to be able to deal with that indecent. But she'd been informed about it.

"Wait, moon base?" Jacob wondered "Why am I only hearing about this now?".

"The malfunction of the Hannibal VI training simulator was deemed top secret, Operative Taylor," EDI explained. "Very few people even know that this incident occurred, and only those Admiral Hackett deemed trustworthy know the full details".

Shepard had been one of those people. Hackett had been concerned about what would happen should the VI somehow escape the moon base. The commander may have had to deal with that situation.

"I assure you, Commander, I can only offer advice and logistical support," EDI said as she tried to placate her new CO. "I can only act independently during combat, and my control of internal systems is highly limited"

Miranda spoke next.

"EDI has performed flawlessly and the Illusive Man handpicked every single member of this crew" the genetically-engineered woman argued "They're easily a match for anyone that you served with, on the original Normandy".

The commander didn't believe that and she'd be much happier if she could have people she trusted on this ship. But that would have to wait until after she'd checked out Freedom's Progress. There was no sense building a team for a mission if she didn't know what the mission was.

(Line Break)

 **Apartment. Omega.**

Once more I connected a call to Liara in her office on Illuim, a live extranet call such as this was not cheap, and all I got to see was a hologram of Liara, but we had a secure means of communication, that was what mattered.

"Do you have the information I need?" I asked.

Normally I'd be more polite when talking to Liara, I'd have offered a greeting, but we were pressed for time.

"I found out everything I could on Lantar Sidonis" she replied "Back when Garrus first arrived on Omega, he found Sidonis in one of the lower levels of Afterlife, being beaten up by an angry krogan who I've since discovered was affiliated with the Blood Pack. Garrus stepped in to help, and the two of them fought off the attacks. As we know the two of them decided to form a team to fight off the gangs. After assembling their team of vigilantes, they began significantly lowering Omega's crime rate. But you should know more about the team than I do".

Indeed I did. Liara and I were funding the group, and after I'd busted out of the prison ship Purgatory, not to be confused with the bar of the same name, I'd arrived here on Omega with Jack AKA Subject Zero. Since I'd wanted to keep her alive, and she'd wanted to make money, I'd introduced her to Garrus.

After that, with Liara's aid, I'd tracked down Kasumi Goto and I'd gotten her to come work for me. Right now she was with Garrus's team, gathering intel and stealing equipment for the team.

"I'll warn Garrus" I was saying to Liara "But without some sort of proof I'm not sure he'll believe me".

This was because I'd spent most of the last two years having adventures, while Garrus had been trying to clean up the galaxy. Sure Liara and I had helped him, but so had Lantar Sidonis, and Garrus didn't know about Jump Chain. He didn't know that I knew the future.

"I'm sorry Gothic" Liara replied "I just can't find any evidence that Lantar is going to betray Garrus. There have been no odd message sent to him on the extranet, and no large payments into his accounts. If he's being bribed or blackmailed then there is no electronic record".

The fault was mine, if I'd been more honest with people from the start than Garrus might simply take me on my word, but we'd not spoken much over the last couple of years were as Lantar Sidonis had been at his side.

"Okay I'll pull Jack and Goto out of the team, and take them with me to find that Solus guy" I decided.

Mordin Solus was a salarian geneticist, professor, and a former operative of the Special Tasks Group, where he performed reconnaissance and participated in the modification of the genophage. Shepard would try to enlist the good doctor, but given the changes in the time line I couldn't be totally sure that Solus would join or even still be alive. Besides the quicker that plague was dealt with the better. It was part of the Collectors' plans, and there should be foiled.

"Don't" Liara said "They might be able to help Garrus. I'll arrange for them to go on an errand for me so they won't be around for Sidonis's betrayal, but I'll make sure they aren't gone for long".

I wasn't sure I agreed with this.

"You know if Garrus ever finds out about how much we've been interfering in his life he might just shoot us both" I commented.

Liara seemed unconcerned.

"He should be working with us to prepare for the Reapers" she said "Instead he chose to go after the gangs on Omega".

We'd been preparing for the war as best we could. Sure I'd been out there having adventures and gathering tech for my cosmic warehouse, but I'd also found information for Liara. Also I discovered Prothean data and artifacts that could aid the Citadel races.

"Besides Garrus would never kill either of us" Liara then added.

I agreed.

"No, but I'm sure he knows where to shoot the both of us to cause none fatal injuries" I warned.

Liara made a thoughtful face.

"Then we both best stock up on medi-gel" she advised.

Yes that would be wise.

"We agreed to keep events as close to how you remember them as possible" Liara reminded me "That means letting Garrus make his own mistakes".

I had altered things in a big picture sort of way by taking a living Prothean to the Citadel. But in some ways things hadn't changed at all. The Collectors were still coming after humans, the Reapers were still going to invade, and Garrus was going to have half of Omega going after him.

"Yes I remember" I said to Liara "We need to keep everything on track so it all works out the right way, so the Reaper's can be defeated".

This was why I needed to go and help Mordin now, if anything happened to him he wouldn't be around to cure the genophage using information obtain during his loyalty mission, without the cure the Krogan wouldn't aid the turians in defending there world, and then the turians wouldn't bring their fleets to support the Alliance when it became time to retake Earth. The whole future of the galaxy depended on certain events happening, and no matter how much it hurt I had to make sure those events still happened.

"Fine I'm on my way" I said.

Mordin needed my help.

(Line Break)

 **Shuttle Bay. Normandy SSV 2**

"You might need me" Lawson insisted as she followed Shepard to the shuttle "my tactical expertise..."

The other woman didn't let her finish.

"Can be best utilised with you providing over-watch from the CIC," Shepard explained patiently "We have helmet cams, so you can monitor us and provide intel using the Normandy's sensors".

The Commander had more to say.

"Besides it doesn't make sense to the ship's two senior officers both off the ship in what could be a hostile situation" Shepard was now saying "What if who ever is attacking the colonies is still here and decided to take on the Normandy or what if they take out the ground team. Then who will find the information we need?".

It was a good point, but Miranda didn't agree.

"There was no one at the other colonies" she argued "So there is no threat".

Shepard gently sighed.

"Which doesn't mean that there won't be this time" Joan replied "Stay here and monitor things from the CIC, that is an order".

Miranda huffed and threw up her hands into the air

"Fine, have it your way," she declared, before stomping off.

There was a chuckle.

"Well, that was entertaining," Zaeed Massini said.

Zaeed Massani was a feared, bounty hunter and mercenary. Cerberus has contracted Zaeed to assist Commander Shepard in her mission. He'd been waiting on the new Normandy for Shepard's arrival.

"Glad you think so." Shepard replied, while shoving a side-camera mounted helmet into Zaeed's hands. "I'm wearing one, and you are too, old man. No arguments. As long as you're taking Cerberus' money, I own your ass".

It was important to Shepard that this mission be recorded. She wanted any evidence they found of who was behind the abductions to be shared with the Alliance. Plus she had decided to help Cerberus clear its name, but only so people would focus on the real threat.

"Fine, I'll wear the poxy thing, but you'd better know that I'm asking for a Goddamn raise" Massani complained.

"I've got no problem wearing one" Jacob said quietly.

He was already wearing his helmet, and he'd changed into a set of Cerberus made armour for the mission.

"I never doubted you would, Mister Taylor" Shepard said with a grin.

A few moments later the shuttle was taking off.

(Line Break)

 **Alleyways. Omega.**

According to Preitor Gavorn, the Captain of Omega's so-called Vorcha taskforce, the vile species were little more than a pestilence. But as far as I could tell, this pestilence was getting pretty close to becoming a full blown plague. The damn things were everywhere down here.

To the more academically minded the vorcha were known for a rather unique biology that came with set of advantages and disadvantages. They had special cells in their bodies not found in other intelligent species.

These cells gave the vorcha some impressive regenerative abilities, as well as the ability to adapt quickly to its environment, such as developing thicker skin after being burned or increased musculature to survive in high gravity. When a vorcha is injured or in distress, these cells move to the affected area and change into specialised forms that will alleviate the issue. This also makes the Vorcha immune to almost all disease. Including the Collector one killing people here on Omega.

Another example of this is if a is vorcha placed in a barely-breathable atmosphere its lungs will adapt to better use the gases there. A vorcha subjected to high gravity will quickly develop stronger heart and leg muscles. Also they heal rapidly, and they can even regrow lost limbs over a period of months. As a consequence of all this, the vorcha as a species no longer evolved as other races do. There is no need for them to evolve as a species when they can adapt as individuals.

Vorcha society was built around combat. In fact, the vorcha use combat, both individually and in groups, as their default form of communication resulting in their communications being primarily non-verbal.

The vorcha are a clan based people who prefer living in communal environments with others of their own species to living alone or in the company of alien races. When a clan population grows too large, younger members will depart to start a new clan elsewhere. The vorcha are extremely aggressive, both against rivals of their own species and against any alien who stands in their way.

Vorcha who had managed to escape their homeworld had a tendency to occupy uninhabited areas of space stations or the seedy underbelly of cities with the Terminus System. Their adaptability and resilience allows them to flourish in such places.

Seeing the potential of the vorcha's individual adaptability, Krogan Blood Pack mercenaries often swept up pockets of vorcha, gathering them into groups and literally beating them into soldiers. Vorcha "trained" by this ordeal are stronger, faster, smarter, and more resilient than other members of the race.

Shortly after the vorcha's discovery, several asari mining corporations adopted vorcha orphans from Heshtok, raising them to live nonviolent lives and employed them in the mining industry on Parasc. While these efforts were at first labelled colonialist, the orphans became minor celebrities when it was discovered that the vorcha habit of using violence to communicate was not completely innate. Several of theses asari raised vorcha spoke throughout Citadel space on behalf of their species, but their short life spans kept their careers very brief.

Today companies that wanted vorcha workers had a choice between adopting and educating them as youngsters, just to watch them die of old age within a couple of decades, or they can hire violent adults for a fraction of the cost and hope to direct them into something useful.

I'd taken DNA samples from Vorcha, and from many other species, and had stored them carefully within my Cosmic Warehouse, just in case the day ever came that information on their biology came in useful.

Soon I stopped thinking about the Vorcha, who all knew better than to mess with me, when I saw a slight blur in the air.

"Garrus" I nodded as the turian decloaked.

I'd seen him coming because I knew what to look for when seeking out a person who was cloaked. Tali and I back engineered personal cloaking devices from salvaged Geth tech a couple of years ago. Thanks to the Cipher, which granted me the knowledge and understanding of the Prothean race, I had a much greater understanding of Mass Effect technology, as such I'd been able to improve the tech. Not many people had this tech as very few people even knew I could make it.

Personal cloaking tech had limited uses. It didn't allow for true invisibility unless you were in low light levels, and in a fire fight you ran the risk of getting shot by your own side. But when it came to sneaking around Omega the tech was very handy.

"Most of the people who see me appear out of no where, either run away or reach for a gun" Garrus commented.

I'd done neither.

"Criminals are superstitious and cowardly lot" I replied.

I was pretty sure one of the versions of Batman had said that.

"You know that you can't be this close to the slums. At least not until Doctor Solus figures out a cure for whatever's making the alien population around here become ill" I reminded Garrus "We should have met somewhere else".

A deadly illness was striking down the poor population in the slums of Omega, well any of the poor who weren't either human or Vorcha. All other alien species, including the turians, suffered a horrible debilitating sickness that left its victims gasping for breath or choking on their own bodily fluids.

Because Humans did not get the plague and Vorcha weren't considered smart enough to engineer such a genetically specific sickness on their own; Humans were being blamed for the deaths, which was causing aliens to lash out humans. Which meant I wasn't really safe here either. Of course the Collectors were to blame, but there was no proof of that .

Krogan were not immune to the plague, but it wasn't killing many of them because of how hard it actually is to kill a Krogan.

"This is about as close as I dare get," the former cop said with a sigh. "How much longer until the Doc has a cure".

I'd already gone to with Mordin, being able to turn invisible made it so much easier to get past the Blue Suns and Blood Pack who were currently fighting over the slums.

"He's saying a day tops" I replied "He just needs a little help keeping the Suns and the Vorcha off his ass. I'll have go back into the slums to help out".

There wasn't really anything in it for me. But many lives were at risk. Shepard had rubbed off on me it seemed. Besides I could turn invisible so it wasn't much of a risk.

"Gothic you're pretty handy with a weapon, and your tech skills combined with your biotics give you an edge, but even you'd be hard-pressed to stay alive if you get between the Blue Suns and the Blood Back" Garrus pointed out "Even Aria's protection won't keep you alive in the slums".

It wasn't without risk I had to admit. I could still get caught in the crossfire. But I couldn't wait for Shepard, not if it led to Mordin being killed for trying to cure the plague.

"How did you ever gain her favour anyway?" Garrus asked.

There were levels of secrets for me. Liara knew everything, we'd Joined enough times, in the non-sexual way, that it was pointless to lie to her, but while Tali knew a lot I'd never told her about Cortana or that we might soon met a Geth called Legion, but she did know pretty much everything else, I could only hope by that the end of this jump when everyone was caught up that she didn't blast me with her shotgun.

"I saved her life" I answered "Or at least I may have saved her life.

Upon noticing the expression on Garrus's face, which I could understand since I could now read turian expression, I decided to tell him more.

"Not on purpose, mind you" I added "I was spying on meeting between the Blue Suns and the Collectors for Liara when Aria enters the room, we end up taking out both sides, and I explained what was going on. After that she a few jobs for me that involved finding out more about the Collectors. I'm her expert on them and since the Omega Four relay that the Collectors use is so close to her station she likes knowing about them. Plus she knows I'm a Prothean expert so I can make sure she only buys real Prothean relics when some come on the market".

Garrus was no doubt pleased that I wasn't involving myself with the gangs.

"Why were the Blue Suns meeting with Collectors?" Garrus wondered.

I hid so much from him that it felt good to tell him this much.

"At first I thought it was about slaves" I said "As I've told you before the Collectors have been buying up human slaves, and they've been offering big rewards for large groups".

Garrus knew this because he and his team had saved more than a few slaves from their grizzly fate, but the Blue Suns weren't a slaver gang, they might provide protection for slavers but that was because they were mercs. Slavery wasn't normally their thing, then again they would do anything to make a profit, and most Blue Suns captains were down right evil.

"The Blue Suns had census data for every colony between here and Earth" I informed Garrus "And now entire colonies are disappearing at a much higher rate than before. Which means whatever the Collectors are up its getting scaled up. Hundreds of humans aren't enough they want thousands now, maybe even ten of thousands, and it could get worse".

I had more to say.

"That's why I started recruiting, and that's why you're here now, and that's why I talked Kasumi as well as Jack into staying with your gang" I was now saying "Shepard is alive, Liara must have told you buy now, and she'll need our help to take down these Collectors. So I'm recruiting your team for the job".

Garrus frowned.

"What about that convict Jack, the one you brought back from Purgatory?" he asked "You really want to take her along?".

Even a fool would be able to see why he'd be concerned about Subject Zero.

"I was breaking out of Purgatory anyway, and Jack was a great way of keeping Warden Kuril distracted" I answered "She's grateful enough towards that she should behave on the mission as long we offer her a cut and people to kill".

Those foolish Blue Suns who'd run the prison ship, who had been slavers really, had captured me, no doubt intending to sell me to someone, maybe even Cerberus. Those idiots had decided to hook my omni-tool to their computers, perhaps they'd been looking for valuable information, but all they'd gotten from Cortana in their system.

My loyal AI had unlocked every cell on the ship, and then had directed me to where I could recover my equipment, then she'd guided to me the ship that had brought me to the prison. Jack had been looking for a way out and I'd offered her a way to make money as well as a way to get payback on the gang who'd locked her up.

"So Shepard's in Cerberus hands, and you're putting a team together to rescue her?" Garrus asked.

He knew that Cerberus had Shepard because Liara would have told him. She kept things hidden too, but like me she didn't keep everything hidden from Garrus. We'd been through a lot together, many missions, many adventures, we were friends.

"No, not rescue" I told him "She's already working on the Collector problem with Cerberus, because they're the only group who will give the commander the resources to".

Garrus was conflicted I could tell.

"So you're putting a team together to help Cerberus take down the Collectors?" the turian asked.

Not exactly.

"I'm putting a team together to help Shepard take down the Collectors, and it looks like it might be happening. According to Liara, a Cerberus facility was attacked by Blue Suns working for the Shadow Broker, and Shepard was the target. We also know that the Illusive Man has offered Shepard support for dealing with the colony abductions. Which Liara and I know the Collectors are behind. They aren't working through slavers any more they are striking directly. I suspect that we'll here about another colony going dark very soon. Shepard will want a team for her mission, and she won't trust Cerberus, so she'll come looking for us. Liara will make sure that intel about our location will fall into Shepard's hands. She'll recruit us, and we'll stop the Collectors, thus saving humanity".

Well the Reapers could still wipe us all out, but hey one galactic emergency at a time.

"You know that I'd follow Shepard into what you humans call hell, if she asked me, and Jack and Kasumi seem pretty solid under fire, but are you sure they a ready for fight with the Collectors?" Garrus asked.

I could tell that he didn't believe that they were. Heck were any of us prepare for this?

"We won't just be jumping through the Omega Four relay" I said to the turian "Shepard will want the best team she can get. That's not just fighters like you and Jack, that means combat engineers like Tali, we'll need Goto's sneaky skills, maybe an assassin, we'll even need someone smart enough to come up with ways to fight the Collectors".

Garrus was sharp, he caught on fast.

"That's why you're running errands for that Salarian mad scientist" he realised.

I nodded.

"We need the best people we can find. Techs, biotics, soldiers, a spy maybe" I said "The team you've put together are just the kind of people Shepard will need".

This was my chance to change things.

"But not that Sidonis guy" I then added "You need to send him away".

Garrus was mildly surprised.

"You haven't had a problem with my other recruits, why does Sidonis bother you so much?" he asked.

A fair question, and not one I couldn't answer without giving too much away. Liara and I had things well planned out. No sense ruining them now by exposing Sidonis, but if I could make Garrus feel concerned about Sidonis his team might be spared.

"Guy gives me a bad vibe" I told the turian "And I've survived two years in the Terminus System by being very careful about who I work with. I trust you Garrus, totally. I do not trust Sidonis".

The turian considered my words.

"Fine, I'll let him know that he's not coming with us when Shepard arrives," he sighed, while fiddling with his omnitool. "For the record, though, I think that you're making a mistake".

Maybe I was. Things were different in this time. The Citadel races were preparing for the Reaper invasion, and while that had made things even worse than ever here on the frontier, that might mean Sidonis would decide not to be betray Garrus. I just wasn't going to bet on it.

"I need to get going" Garrus told me "Harrot has once again been making life miserable for people down in the markets".

Harrot was an elcor merchant here on Omega. He ran Harrot's Emporium, and a salvage shop in the Omega Market. He was known for price fixing, selling drugs on the side, and supplying information at a price. He also used his money and power to bully other people.

Ken a quarian male, who had arrived at Omega while on his Pilgrimage, but was trapped when all his money was stolen and he could no longer afford to leave, had been prevented by Harrot from earning enough money with his salvage operation to leave the station. Garrus and I had stepped into solve this injustice.

Garrus had worked to intimidate Harrot while I'd hired Ken to salvage tech for me at a good price. Many of the small and rare items stored away in my Cosmic Warehouse, some of which I didn't even know the use of, had come from Ken.

I'd offered the young quarian enough money for a ticket off the station, but he wanted to find the right gift for his people. He didn't want to return in disgrace. Perhaps I could take Shepard into taking him with us, or maybe he'd be better off here.

"My group has an operation planned for tonight" Garrus went on to tell me "Gothic stay with Doctor Solus, curing that plague is more important than ever if the Collectors are really behind it".

Foiling their plans was important.

"Fine" I agreed "Just watch your back out there".

Garrus was already vanishing out of sight.


	3. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Freedom's Prog 2

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 3**

 **Freedom's Progress 2**

 **Apartment. Omega.**

It was becoming a regular thing to see Liara in holographic form within my home here on Omega, or what passed for my home at least. I'd never want to live full time in this place.

"Shouldn't you be dealing with the plague?" the asari asked.

I was in the process of doing so. Mordin needed some supplies and even at the best of times it was hard to get certain items down in the slums, due to the quarantine it was impossible. So I'd gone out to pick a few things up.

"The outbreak is being handled" I assured the hot alien space babe "Now what did you want to talk to me about?".

Liara didn't waste any more time.

"My spy satellite that was in orbit over Freedom's Progress just picked this up" she said.

A video file was sent to my omni-tool, it was of a Collector cruiser which landed right next the colony. The ship was too large to land on a planet, but the same could have been said for the Reaper called Nazar.

"Because the satellite was in stealth mode we don't have any well defined images of the surface, but you can clearly see the ship lands, and later taking off" Liara was now saying "Also according to the time stamp the colony lost communications just as the ship arrived".

This was just as I had predicted.

"The satellite went dark as soon as it got a picture of the ship arrived and it only transmitted the images hours after the ship left as to avoid detection" Liara told me "As a warning system it is useless, but at least we got some information".

Hopefully it would help.

"Okay as planned let's send to the footage to Emily Wong over on the Citadel, and drop just a few hints about the Collectors" I instructed "Miss Wong is an investigative journalist, if we make her work for it she'll have it on the morning news report".

Liara pressed a few buttons on a computer that I couldn't see.

"She's pretty" the asari commented "Want me to attach your name and contact details to the files I send her?".

Which would earn me some gratitude from her, and made sense to cultivate an ally on the news stations.

"Sure" I said "But just my name".

Liara didn't press the issue even though I was sure that it was than some information exchange that she'd been thinking off between myself and Miss Wong. Now and again the doctor would try to set me with someone, when really she should be worried about her own love life.

"What about the Alliance?" Liara asked "Shouldn't we send a copy of the video to Admiral Anderson rather than Miss Wong".

I had my reasons for this.

"The Alliance disowned me officially" I said to the information dealer "Unofficially they complain about paying me when I bring them info and Prothean relics. I don't feel I owe them a freebie".

After all I'd done for them they disowned me. Gits.

"They had to or some of the major players in the Terminus Systems would have gotten upset about an Alliance officer raiding Prothean ruins and buying odd bits of technology when in their space" she reminded me "Not to mention all the spying you've done for me, and our co-funding our Garrus's operations".

Okay so maybe the Alliance hadn't been totally unreasonable.

"Moving on" said Liara "There's another video".

There was another video for me to watch. That was the new Normandy for sure. Its stealth system didn't prevent the camera from seeing it.

"Don't share this with anyone" I said to Liara "I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about Shepard until she's had a chance to speak for herself".

The asari hologram nodded.

"Well we know this means Shepard will be heading your way soon" she then said "Which means I won't be able to talk to again you until you get to Illuim, I'll have just have to send you messages".

That would be fine.

"I'll see you on Illuim" I replied "Until then I have a plague to deal with".

No rest for the wicked.

(Line Break)

 **Landing Site. Freedom's Progress.**

Shepard knew little about this place other than it was a human colony located in the Terminus Systems. Because the Alliance had no jurisdiction in this part of the galaxy the Alliance wouldn't have placed a garrison here, even if the colony had been large enough to justify it, nor would any Alliance military ship come to the colonies aid. They wouldn't take any official action over the attack at all, oh an aid ship might be sent, but there was no one here to give aid to, so that would be pointless.

Independent colonies like these, which were often funded by organised or nations that didn't want Alliance oversight. The Alliance was backed by Earth's most powerful nations, but not every human nation or group wanted to be a part of it.

In Shepard's view that was what made Ashely Williams being appointment being appointed to an outreach program to a Terminus System colony all the more odd. If she hadn't know about the Alliance wanting to blame Cerberus for the abductions, that alone might have tipped Joan off.

"Our priority, gentlemen, is Search and Rescue," Shepard told the two men with her "Someone here could still be alive"

The Commander then check her comm.

"Lawson, are you receiving our transmission?" Shepard asked.

"We're receiving, Commander," Miranda replied "I've got audio and visual, everything will be recorded".

Since she was working with a known terrorist group it was important to make sure that everyone would be able to see her actions, to know that she was doing her duty. Also this way the Council and Alliance Command couldn't simply ignore what was going on because she could share this information with the press.

"We've touched down on Freedom's Progress, no civilian contacts at LZ" Shepard said for the record "Assuming that the same fate befell this colony as it did the others there'll be no civilian contacts anywhere. Again this is assuming that the briefing I was given was accurate".

Shepard wasn't going to trust anything Cerberus had told her until she'd seen this colony for herself, and even then she was going to be careful.

"The briefing was completely accurate, Commander," Miranda stated, somewhat moodily "Sensors say that there's no one in the building a head of you, well no life signs anyway"

Moving to the open door, Shepard poked her head inside and saw the building, someone's home was indeed empty. The place still had power, and food which had been left out hadn't gone mouldy.

"If anyone sees any clue as to what happened here then let me know" Shepard ordered "Don't keep it to yourself".

When they got outside Jacob did notice something.

"Is that a footprint from a YMIR?" the former Alliance marine wondered "Why the hell would a place this small have a heavy mech?".

Colonies not funded by the Alliance were even worse off that ones funded by corporations. Setting up new colonies wasn't cheap, no single Earth nation could have afforded to settle so many words, that was why the Alliance had come into existence, all those nations together were able to do greater things they could have alone.

"Freedom's Progress had a small compliment of mechs as security, but a few of the other colonies did as well. They were offline when people came to investigate the disappearances" Miranda told everyone.

Shepard looked at the prints.

"If it was doing standard defencive patrol, we've had at least heard it by now, or even see it" Joan mused

"Goddamn YMIR's," Zaeed said as he gripped his weapon tighter. "I hate the bloody things. Bitch to take down".

The YMIR Mech, more commonly known as Heavy Mechs, had been designed for anti-infantry purposes. While were often utilised by Eclipse and Blue Suns mercenaries as infantry support, they were also used as security in some colonies.

Heavily armoured and shielded, YMIR Mechs possessed twin automatic mass accelerator cannons concealed in the right arm and a rocket launcher in the left. Which meant they had a lot of fire power, when combined with their shields and armour, this made formidable foes on the ground.

"A little too high tech for most slavers" Jacob was saying "It could be here to defend the colony or maybe one of the bigger merc gangs is behind this after all".

"Commander, I'm bringing up the colony manifest," Miranda reported. "Freedom's Progress had a full complement of LOKI and FENRIS mechs, as well as a YMIR".

The Hahne-Kedar-manufactured LOKI Mech was a bipedal humanoid looking security robot designed for guard duty in locations where manpower was an issue. They were commonly used in this day and age due to the need for a military build up, as well as loses during the Geth war.

FENRIS mechs were the modern version of attack dogs by military groups, and sniffer dogs by law enforcement. It also made sense for a vulnerable colony to have them in case of dangerous wildlife. When attacking, a FENRIS Mech would accelerate to a set speed and jump with its rear legs, bringing the target down with its front legs in an animalistic pounce-like motion. After the target is struck, they are stunned by a taser device embedded in the 'head' of the FENRIS.

"Hold on what's that?" Miranda asked once the group got moving again "I don't think that's normal trash",

Shepard looked down and narrowed her eyes as she noticed the label.

"Its a tube of dextro-amino-based nutrient paste" the commander said to everyone "We kept a few boxes of them on the old Normandy".

Although this was a cheap brand, Joan knew that much having shared meals with Garrus and Tali.

"Why would a human need something like that?" Jacob asked.

"A human wouldn't, but a Quarian or Turian might," Shepard replied.

She then did some thinking.

"Miranda is there any sign of strip mining in this system, hollowed asteroids anything like that?" Joan wondered "If the Migrant Fleet has been here they would have harvested at some of the system's resources".

Shepard had some idea of how the Migrant Fleet worked. She and Tali had discussed what life was like for quarians as they roamed space.

"EDI can't find anything like that" Miranda reported "There's no sign that anyone has been here at all".

Humans and quarians hadn't had much official contact as of yet, but this was the Terminus systems, and it had been a couple of years since Tali had helped save the Citadel, so perhaps it wasn't odd for a quarian to visit a human colony.

Also it could be turians working as part of a group of slavers, but if they'd gone to such great lengths to not leave any clues then they wouldn't be leaving bits of trash behind. Besides many of these buildings had things of value within them, raiders and slavers would have taken some of it.

Suddenly an odd mechanical barking filled the air, and Shepard swivelled around to gun down a pair of FENRIS mechs that had been advancing upon them from behind. Several LOKIs were soon also advancing on them, and Jacob and Zaeed swiftly began gunning them down.

"A quarian could have activated the mechs and reprogrammed them to attack us" Shepard was now saying.

Although why a quarian would do that was a mystery, humans had no history of violence against the Migrant Fleet. Well not as far as she knew.

"Not sure that I believe that the Quarians could be responsible for all of this," Jacob muttered as he looked around at the empty houses and deserted streets "And if they could do it, they'd have to reason to. Maybe it is the turians, and one of them got sloppy, leaving us a clue".

Shepard shook her head.

"Not sure that I believe it, either, Mister Taylor. But until we know more about what is going on here we're just speculating" the commander said "Let's get moving".

The three humans moved deeper inside the colony.

(Line Break)

Of all the people in the galaxy, in all the places that one could be, Shepard certainly didn't expect to run into her former Combat Engineer here. Sure she'd suspected that a quarian might be here, but she'd not imagined she'd run into a quarian she actually knew. It was a big galaxy after all.

"Shepard?" she asked "Is that really you?".

It was Tali alright. She was older now, Shepard could see in the way the quarian female held herself. Her voice changed too, she sounded more grown up.

"Did that Geth data help with your Pilgrimage?" Shepard asked.

Only a few people from the original Normandy would have known about that. After all Shepard really shouldn't have shared that information, the Alliance would have classified it.

"Yes, it did" she replied.

What should have been a happy reunion nearly turned into a shooting match.

"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives!" one of the male quarians shouted.

He was a little too twitchy for Shepard's comfort, and they were in an enclosed space with no where to take cover. A fire fight here would be a slaughter.

"Tali'Zorah, you were a member of my crew," Shepard reminded her. "You know what happens to people who point guns at me".

The quarian female knew exactly what happened to people who threated Commander Shepard.

"Prazza, you stupid bosh'tet!" she yelled at the Migrant Fleet marine ""Put that weapon down before you get everyone killed!".

He lowered his rifle, but not far enough for anyone's comfort.

"Why is your old commander working for Cerberus?" Prazza demanded to know "And wasn't she dead, you told us she died, so how can this be her".

To be fair that was a good question.

"I was in some kind of a coma for the last two years," Shepard explained. "Cerberus fixed me up and gave me a ship. A new Normandy".

The Commander didn't like the new ship, but it would grow on her of that she was sure.

"They built you a new Normandy?" the admiral's daughter asked

Tali's excitement was obvious even through the all-concealing exosuit

"Its twice as big as the old Normandy, and has even more power and fuel" Shepard said.

Oddly this didn't seem to be something the Migrant fleet marines wanted to hear about so the Spectre, assuming she was still one, changed the subject.

"Tali, seriously, I've been out of the loop for a while" Shepard was now saying "So why do you guys hate Cerberus so much".

"Cerberus threatened the safety of the Migrant Fleet!" Tali replied vehemently.

Prazza was even less diplomatic.

"They attacked our people and tried to blow up one of our ships" he said.

Shepard turned to Jacob

"There were mitigating circumstances" he said "I was in no way involved".

Clearly the former marine had remembered that this was all being recorded.

"We'd still like to know what you guys are doing here" Shepard was now saying "And I'm not part of Cerberus I'm just working with them to find out what happened to this colony. You can trust me Tali".

Thankfully she did. And Tali wasn't that surprised that Shepard was here. She'd been told that the commander would be back.

"We're here for one of our own, his name is Veetor," Tali told Shepard "He was here on his Pilgrimage".

When quarians of the Migrant Fleet reach adulthood, they left their birth ship to go find a new ship to serve upon. To prove themselves worthy, they had to leave the Migrant Fleet and search the galaxy for something of value. This was then offered to the captain of their prospective ship as a gift, proving that they would not be a burden to the ship, but rather an assest.

If you took out all the ritual the Pilgrimage was merely an attempt to maintain genetic diversity within the small, relatively isolated population bases that made up the Migrant Fleet. If the quarians stayed and married within their birth vessel, this would cause problems as inbreeding does.

The Pilgrimage also gave quarians the chance to experience life outside the Migrant Fleet, to help them appreciate their people and culture. For many it was their only opportunity to leave, as once they returned they would be busy serving on their new ship.

Pilgrimage gifts varied. A young quarian might return from their Pilgrimage with resources, or vital technology, or a new star ship to add to the Fleet itself, or even simply some sort of knowledge that will improve life for everyone on the Flotilla.

Even if the offered gift was not particularly valuable, the captain will usually accept it out of a sense of tradition. However, there was a degree of social stigma in presenting a sub-standard Pilgrimage gift, and it would not make a good impression on the new crew. A young quarian's social status was also taken into account. Individuals from prominent families were expected to return with something special.

"So there just happens to be a Quarian on a remote human colony that just happens to have been attacked?" Miranda said skeptically. "Doesn't that seem a tad coincidental?".

Shepard asked that question to the quarians, but she phased it better.

"Tali'Zorah's heroism has shown your people what we Quarians can do" Prazza answered "We're more welcome in places such as this than we used to be".

Indeed Tali's achievements during the search for Saren had made a big difference for everyone. Without her evidence the Council wouldn't have disowned Saren or made Shepard the first human Spectre. Plus quarians had great technical skills, they were always in demand.

"Guess Rael'Zorah's little girl saving the entire galaxy kinda made an impression, eh?" Shepard teased.

"Veetor was always nervous around groups that he didn't know," Tali said wanting to change the subject "Plus, we think that he might be injured, damage to his suit could led to an infection and a fever. He ran away when he saw us and he's skilled enough to have reprogrammed the mechs".

Well that explained why mechs meant to protect a human colony had fired upon humans.

"Okay if you don't want to work with Cerberus we won't" Shepard decided. "We'll split-up and look for Veetor. But be careful there's heavy mech out there. Veetor might know something about what happened so I need to talk to him when we do find him, but getting him medical attention is our first priority, we need him lucid if he's going to talk".

The plan was agreed upon

(Line Break)

As the three humans hurried through the colony's streets, they heard explosions nearby.

"Tali!" Shepard called out over her suit's radio "What's going on? Did you find Veetor?"

"Worse!" her Quarian friend replied "Prazza talked the rest of the squad into rushing ahead! They wanted to take Veetor away before you got here, but now they're being torn apart by a heavy mech!".

Well that explained the explosions.

"Hold on tight, Tali!" Shepard shouted. "We're on our way!".

The three humans started running.

"Bloody Hell, Shepard, if the damn bucket heads want to find this kid so bad, let them deal with the Goddamn heavy mech!" the old merc groaned.

The commander had no intention of letting the quarians get slaughtered just because Prazza was a idiot.

"We're going after them, Massani, no arguments!" Shepard shouted. "Double time!"

(Line Break)

When they got to the battle Shepard found a heavy mech, and it was murdering everything that moved.

"Lawson, tell me that you've got some way of dealing with a heavy mech that doesn't involve getting our asses shot to hell and back" Shepard requested.

"I could probably take it down with my biotics" she replied "Only I can't because I'm not there"

This was no time to argue.

"Other than that I suggest disruptor ammo and not giving it one target to shoot at" Miranda said next "Once its been weakened you can finish it off with your grenade launcher".

As a plan that would have to do.

"Massani, Taylor, flanking positions!" Shepard ordered "Massani, strip its shields!"

Within seconds his Disruptor Ammo mod was active and his M-15 Vindicator was chipping away at the Heavy Mech's shielding.

"Taylor, lay down some cover fire!" Shepard then ordered.

"Yes Ma'm" he said as his M-22 Eviscerator began blasting away.

The Lieberschaft 2180 shotgun, or "Eviscerator," was of human civilian design and had a unique ammunition generator. Where most modern firearms shaved off chips or pellets from an ammunition block, made up of metal. The M-22 shaved off serrated metal wedges designed to fly aerodynamically. This dramatically improved its armour-piercing capabilities, and its tight grouping meant it was deadly at longer ranges than standard shotguns. However this design also violated several intergalactic weapons treaties, but Cerberus ignored such things.

Shepard made ready to use the M-100 Grenade Launcher she'd picked up shortly after meeting Miranda Lawson. The rapid-fire grenade launcher was for the most part favoured by the likes of Blood Pack vorcha mercenaries. It was capable of taking down multiple enemies with a single well-placed shot.

It was not so effective against Heavy Mechs as it turned out, but that just meant she used up more grenades before the machine exploded.

"Nice," the old bounty hunter said with a chuckle.

Next there was a message over the radio.

"Veetor is on the other side of that large door" Tali told Shepard "Go in and get him to power down the rest of the mechs before they finish off what's left of my squad".

There was more but Shepard didn't think it was meant for her.

"I told the Admirals I needed more marines for this mission but no one listens to me...".

What followed was cursing the like of which even Joan had never heard, and it was ruining her mental image of the sweet young Tali she'd met on the Citadel, so she decided to close that channel and talk to someone else.

"Miss Lawson" she said into her com "we need to send down teams to collect samples of anything we can find. Plus, see if Chakwas is free. Tali's team got hit bad and could use some TLC. I doubt that any of them wants to be treated on a Cerberus vessel, so she's going to have to work her magic in the field".

Cerberus or not Tali would allow Chakwas to treat her people. No one ever refused Chakwas.

"Understood, Commander," Miranda replied.

Shepard then turned to the merc.

"Stay here and make sure none of the mechs get a chance to finish the Quarians off" she said "I'll take Mr Taylor and deal with Veetor".

With that the Commander went to finish the mission.

(Line Break)

"Veetor, don't shoot!" Shepard shouted into the darkened room. "I'm a friend! I'm here to help you!"

The ill alien had a gun, and he was prepared to use it

"No! You're lying! You're with them!" the quarian shouted.

Veetor was clearly delirious, lost in the midst of a delusion brought about by feverish paranoia.

"You want to take me away! Like what happened to the others! Leave me alone!" he yelled.

Shepard stepped forward slowly, holding up her hands in an attempt to appease the unstable Quarian.

"Veetor, I'm one of Tali's old friends. Do you know who Tali'Zorah is?".

Every Quarian should have heard of her by now.

"Tali? She saved the Citadel from the Geth" Veetor said.

Well that was true, in the same way that Shepard had saved the Citadel. Really it had been a team effort with many people involved, and a few of them hadn't made it to the end.

"Wait, you're human" the alien was now saying "And the monsters didn't take you".

Shepard stepped closer, making sure to keep her hands well away from her weapons.

"Veetor, Tali came here to find you. She heard that you were in trouble" the commander was now saying "What happened to you?".

"The monsters," he babbled. "Came from a ship. Tiny insects. Attacked the colonists. Froze them. Then the monsters took them away"

That didn't really help.

"Veetor, did you see anything? Anything that could help us find out who did this?" Shepard asked.

The alien put down the gun.

"I saw everything" Veetor said as he used his omni-tool on a set of nearby monitors "Come and see".

Some surveillance footage appeared. There were recording from many angles of the colonists running and hiding from swarms of insects. Then the footage cut to bipedal insectoids loading frozen colonists into pods. It seemed as if Veetor wasn't as crazy as he sounded.

"I think those are Collectors," Jacob said,

Shepard had heard about them, from somewhere, she just couldn't recall.

"Tell me about them" Joan said.

"They're a species from the Terminus Systems," Jacob explained. "I'm not surprised that you've never heard of them. Most people think that they're myths. Even people living in the Terminus Systems have rarely seen these guys".

Now she remembered an Alliance briefing about them, that had been many years ago. She recalled that the Alliance had no actual proof the Collectors even existed.

"So why is a species that the Alliance had never made contact with suddenly kidnapping humans across the galaxy?" Shepard wondered "And what are they doing with them once they've been kidnapped?" .

Shepard recalled more on the Collectors. They were race as mysterious as the Geth had been, before Eden Prime. They came from beyond the unmapped Omega-Four Relay. No ship, save those of the Collectors, had ever returned from passing through the Relay.

Veetor had recorded tons of readings on his omni-tool. This was the most solid evidence to date on the threat, and despite being ill the quarian had somehow managed to trap one of the alien bugs inside a container. Very impressive, considering that he seemed scared of his own shadow.

Shepard decided to let Tali take him back to the flotilla, a decision that did not sit well with Miss Lawson. She wasn't shy about broadcasting her displeasure.

(Line Break)

 **Afterlife. Omega.**

Even to put it nicely this was a cesspool of a nightclub, but the half-naked Asari and Human exotic dancers, who plyed their trade on top tables and the platforms above the dance floor, did a good job of hiding it.

Tonight the club was packed with members of various species, many of whom belonged to one of the merc bands who worked here on the station. At one of the private corner booths, a hooded figure sat hunched over as they nursed a barely touched drink.

From her usual seating area, Aria T'loak eyed the strange figure within her domain. Her eyes narrowed and one corner of her full lips curled. She knew who it was, and she knew that his presence here meant something important.

That was when someone she was expecting showed up. Two of her men prevented the three humans from getting any closer.

"Hello, Commander Shepard" Aria said as she glanced over her shoulder "Welcome to Omega".

(Line Break)

Miranda Lawson felt a chill go down her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She knew the feeling of being watched... but this feeling was something a little different. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw only the batarian and turian guards. She looked around some more, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Shepard, let's find the merc recruiter" Jacob Taylor suggested to the red-headed woman.

The dark skinned human male then turned to look at the other woman in the group, and there was a look of concern on his face.

"You okay there, Miranda?" he asked.

Miranda wasn't actually sure. She more or less strong armed Shepard into taking her on this mission and now she was almost freaking out. She forced herself to calm down.

"I'm fine, Jacob. Though, we should hurry and find Archangel before the mercs do" she said.

Commander Shepard looked at the Cerberus Operative responsible for bringing her back from the dead. The dark haired woman seemed unnerved by something, but she didn't asked about it.

(Line Break)

Thanks to the low light levels and the smoke my cloaking device did in fact make me invisible, so as long as I didn't bump into anyone I could move about unseen. I doubted I'd be able to get to close to Omega's Queen, she was bound to have defences I couldn't see, but for stalking anyone else I was golden.

"Are you planning on killing them?" someone asked.

The sound of Aria's calm, cold voice coming directly from my ear piece was a bit of a surprise. I looked over to the ruler of this station and saw her men exchanging looks They were confused by her question. Who was she talking to? they were asking themselves.

I was both impressed and a little worried that she knew I was still here. I was after all cloaked.

"Actually I'm just keeping an eye on them" I replied "One of them is an old friend of mine and I want to make sure no one is bothering her".

In truth I had given real thought to killing Miranda Lawson. She was the reason why I'd spent two years in the crappiest part of the galaxy. I could have gathered tech and info in the Traverse, but staying in Alliance space was simply too dangerous when Cerberus was after you.

"Just remember. Omega is MY territory" I was warned "I don't want you forgetting that. Now go and deal with the plague, its starting to annoy me".

I really should get around to that.

"Fine I'm going" I said.

With that I made my way out.

(Line Break)

 **The Presidium. The Citadel.**

Admiral Anderson, military adviser to Councillor Udina stood before the hologram of Admiral Hacket. Neither of them had happy expressions on their faces.

"Why the hell are we learning about the disappearance of yet another colony from Emily Wong?" Anderson wished to know "I have to tell Udina something so he can report it to the Council".

Hackett understood how much pressure his fellow officer was under.

"We tracked her source to an information dealer on Illium, an asari who was part of Shepard's crew back when she was chasing Saren across half the galaxy" Hackett explained "Doctor T'soni has become quite successful in her line of work, there's no way Wong could have paid for this tip so T'soni clearly wanted the galaxy to know".

It made the Alliance look really bad if they were surprised by a major news report.

"We actually do have some information from the Quarians" Hackett was now saying "Apparently they sent in a small team to recover one of their own after the attack. According to the Admiralty Board, Commander Shepard was with a Cerberus team, and they worked together to recover an injured quarian, and to uncover who was behind the attack".

Anderson was surprised.

"I heard a rumour that Shepard was live, but it came from a source I know has ties to Cerberus" the adviser said "But I can't see the quarians lying to us, it doesn't benefit them to upset the Alliance".

Hackett agreed.

"We don't have much to do with the Migrant Fleet, but what little interaction the Alliance has had so far has been good" he said.

Anderson quickly decided what he was going to do.

"I'll find a way to get a message to Shepard" he said "I've kept into contact with an old friend of hers".

A former Alliance officer who served under Shepard had made a few visits to the Citadel over the years to hand over Prothean stuff, and he was in contact with T'Soni, he should be able to get a message to Shepard.

"If the Commanders is alive, and she was there then we should let her tell us her side of the story before we take any action" Anderson suggested.

Hackett nodded.

"Until someone form Alliance HQ tells me otherwise I'll leave this in your hands, David" he agreed.

With that the hologram shut down, and Anderson was left alone with his thoughts. They were dark ones.


	4. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Archangel

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 4  
**

 **Archangel**

 **Merc Camp. Omega.**

"Look at this place," Jacob said with a deep sigh, "People aren't meant to live like this".

Ahead of the group was the large bridge which was the only way into the building reputed to be the headquarters of the infamous Archangel. And while that was the group's goal the former Alliance marine couldn't help taking a moment to notice how this place had become a war zone. There were homes here. People were actually living their lives while a war was going on in their neighbourhood.

Earth, the home world and capital of humanity, was enjoying a new golden. Disease, pollution, and other social ills were on the decline thanks to technological advances and a wealth of resources coming from the colonies. Life on some of the colonies was when better than on Earth. Eden Prime had been an example of this. So with all that it was a total mystery to Jacob Taylor as to why any human would come to live on this station.

"Omega," Miss Lawson said "What a piss-hole. I feel dirty just being here, like I need a long, hot shower".

Normally most men, and some women, would spend a moment thinking about Miranda in the shower, but not this time. There were more important matters to attend to.

"Keep your voice down" Massani said "Place like this, you've gotta stay on your toes, focus on the job".

Shepard agreed.

"Miranda, Jacob go see what you can do about those mechs we saw" the commander ordered "Massani and I will see what else we can do to help out Archangel".

With that the group spilt up.

(Line Break)

Cathka screamed in pain, convulsing as the fully-charged welder sent a surge of power through his hard-suit and into his spine. Finally, the electrocuted Batarian died, and Zaeed whistled in what may have been admiration.

"You really don't like Batarians," he commented.

She did not.

"That wasn't because he was Batarian," Shepard replied "That was just the fastest and easiest way to keep him from fixing that gunship. Besides he blew cigarette smoke in my face, which is rude".

Looking around, she smirked as she realised that no one had seen her plunge the welding tool into Cathka's back. Satisfied with her actions, she helped Zaeed hide Cathka's body in a nearby crate. Normally she wouldn't go around killing people like that, but having died seemed to have changed her.

Once they had finished that unpleasant task the two soldiers joined the freelancers, as they rendezvoused with Jacob and Miranda, the latter of whom looked triumphant.

"You seem pleased with yourself, Miss Lawson," Shepard said with a grin. "Can I assume that you pulled off something brilliant?"

Miranda nodded.

"I messed with the heavy Mach's friend or foe system" she told the commander "I think that you'll like the results".

Miranda didn't explain further so Joan figured she'd just have to wait and see.

"Shepard. The freelancers are moving," Jacob reported, while pointing at the departing group of mercs.

The Commander took her rifle off her back and prepared it to fire.

"Time to show these brats how the Hell it's done," Zaeed said, while cracking his knuckles.

The freelancers crossed the bridge, as the distinct sound of an M-92 Mantis sniper rifle filled the air. Shepard knew that it was a powerful weapon able to take out most targets in a single shot. While the rifle was incredibly accurate at long range, it did have a slow rate of fire so it was best used by an expert shot. Also it was effective against armour, but didn't perform so well against shields and biotic barriers. Here in the Terminus system those sort of defences were at lot less common, so it was good weapon for Archangel to use while defending his base.

Shepard and team followed the mercs into the base, and they soon encountered a young woman who had tattoos covered her body, from her shaved head to well past the waist of the worn jeans that were nearly all she was wearing. She also combat boots, and that was it as far as Shepard could tell. She was topless, but it wasn't all that noticeable because of all the tattoos covering her body.

"You're gonna fuckin' die, pissant!" the topless woman declared.

Shepard could feel it, even from several yards away, the sensation of static electricity filling the air around her was a clear sign of a heavy-duty biotics at work. This was proven when a freelance merc went flying out of the building and into the chasm that acted a moat around Archangel's base.

The Commander had known her share of powerful biotics, including Liara's mother, Benezia, and Liara herself. But this girl had so much power that it seemed supernatural.

Kaidan Alenko had been a powerful biotic, and pretty damn impressive at using it. And her old Staff Lt had been good as well. But Shepard knew that both of those men combined couldn't have handled this woman.

Which made it all the more worrying when the inked up biotic turned her attention to Shepard's team

"Jack!" an oddly familiar voice yelled from up on the second floor. "That's enough! I've been expecting them!".

"The fuck?" the young woman roared back. "D'you realise that we've got shit-loads of people out there, trying to kill our asses, and you wanna play fuckin' house?".

Shepard was wondering if she'd have to shoot the tattooed human, and if she could actually kill the biotic.

"Jack, be nice and bring our guests up to see me," the voice said.

The biotic let the dark energy she'd been channelling fade away.

"Well, what the fuck are you waiting for? C'mon! If you're coming" she said as trudged up the steps, while waving for them to follow.

When she got up there suddenly the air in front of Shepard seemed to unfold around a petite Japanese woman wearing who was wearing red-hood and a suit of light body armour. She appeared as-if-by-magic right in front of a visibly-surprised Jacob. The ex-marine shouted in surprise and fell back onto his butt.

"Kasumi, be nice" a male voice said "These are honoured guests,"

Shepard turned and noticed a fully-armoured Turian by the window, he was who had been wielding the high-powered M-92 Mantis sniper rifle that she'd heard firing only seconds ago

"You're Archangel?" Shepard asked.

The figure shrugged before removing its helmet, then a moment later a familiar visor-wearing face appeared. Shepard found herself in a mild state of shock

"Garrus Vakarian? What the Hell are you doing here?" Joan wondered.

She'd not expected this at all.

"Nice to see you, too, Shepard," the turain said dryly "Gothic said that you weren't dead, but I didn't want to believe him, guess I'll have to buy him a beer".

The commander needed a moment.

"A beer?" she wondered.

Garrus shrugged again.

"We're men" he then said "Its how we apologise to each other".

Joan figured it was better than nothing.

"Wait so Gothic is here. Where is he? Is he okay?" she wished to know.

"He's fine, as far as I know," Garrus told her "I saw him not too long ago. He's helping some Salarian mad scientist cure a sickness down in the Slums. Dangerous, but less so than what's going on around here".

That rang a bell.

"Do you mean Professor Mordin Solus?" Shepard asked.

Garrus nodded.

"Liara has been keeping us all in the loop as much as she can" the turian answered "I know she talks to Gothic, but I've been a little too busy to check up on her. I haven't seen her, Ashley or Tali since I quit C-Sec. Wrex is fine too, but that's a story for later".

Garrus had left the Normandy before it was destroyed so he didn't know what had happened to the Alliance crew.

"I still say the blue bitch is fucking with us," Jack said with a snarl "You say she's got all this killer intel and shit, but she didn't know these asshats were coming for us?"

Archangel attempted to soothe Subject Zero.

"Jack, we knew that they'd come for us eventually," Garrus said with a sigh, suddenly looking tired "I just thought that I'd have more time, and I swear to you I never thought we'd be betrayed".

"Fuckin' Sidonis, I'll crush his fuckin' skull" the bald biotic said before really cursing up a storm.

Again Joan heard swear words she'd never been forced to listen to before, and she'd spent years of her life as a marine.

"Garrus, if I'd known you were in trouble, I'd have come sooner" Shepard said.

Not that she'd wasted time gathering intel on the mercs, but she'd have much rather have been fighting alongside her old friend.

"I know" the renegade Turian told her "But hey this whole thing's given Jack plenty of people to kill, so that's something".

The topless biotic flipped Garrus the bird.

"We've done pretty good so far," Kasumi was now saying "Those idiots have to keep coming at us over that damn bridge".

Garrus nodded in agreement.

"It has been useful, funnelling all those witless idiots into my sights" Garrus said as he used his sniper scope to see what the mercs were up to "but it works both ways. They'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way".

A tricky situation.

"Garrus, how in Hell did you end up with half of Omega trying to kill you?" Shepard asked.

It was a long story, involving stopping slavers, pirates, mercs and lots of other types of scum.

"I'll tell you all about it once we get out of here" the former cop said before getting down to business "I'm guessing that Gareth, Garm, and Tarak have figured out that their freelancer insertion team are all dead, which means that they'll go with Plan B".

Shepard heard the weariness in his voice. Garrus was putting on a brave face, but she knew that this siege had taken a toll on him. Shepard suspected Garrus was only just able to stay on his feet. Something was weighing him down, the betrayal of this Sidonis character perhaps.

Before she could ask about that sudden muffled thud shook the whole building and this made everyone look around in alarm.

"Those SOBs are actually trying a coordinated assault" Goto remarked "Must be, that explosion came from below us".

Garrus again nodded in agreement.

"Then that means that they'll hit us from below, and straight on" the turian rogue said.

A plan was needed.

"Well, this is your base, Garrus," Shepard said "How do we do this?"

The former cop found it odd that he'd be issues orders to the commander, but he didn't dwell on it.

"We'll have to coordinate our defence," he decided. "Your people and mine, working together."

His omni-tool flared to life and after seeing the readout the turian's mandibles twitched in irritation.

"They're trying to breach the lower levels, so someone's going to have to go down there and shut the barriers" he said.

"Jacob, we'll head down there" Shepard decided.

"Understood, commander," the former Corsair replied.

Garrus then looked out of the window.

"An extra pair of eyes up here would be great," he commented..

"Zaeed, stay with Garrus and cover him," Shepard commanded

The old merc nodded and soon joined Garrus at the window.

"That should leave the main entrance for Jack, Goto and the woman you brought with you" Garrus said "They'll keep the base secure".

The thief found this funny.

"We'll keep the big strong men-folk safe" she promised.

Garrus chuckled.

"Okay it's time to spill a little merc blood" he then said.

(Line Break)

Clinic. Slums.

I smiled as I watched the team led by Garrus and Shepard go to work. The picture quality was rather good thanks to he high quality spy cameras I had planted in Garrus's hideout. I was surprised that no one on Garrus's team had found my bugs, but to be fair they'd been busy lately.

"Cortana did you handle the gunship?" I asked.

The AI spoke directly into my earpiece.

"I managed to hack the gunship's VI" she told me "As soon as anyone tries to fire the weapons the safeties will kick in preventing the gunship from firing its weapons and the controls will lock up preventing the gunship from moving. Leaving it little more than an armoured target or your old friends to shoot at".

This pleased me greatly. I was so grateful that Cortana still counted as Perk from my Jump Chain, she'd come with no matter where I went and didn't count as a companion, as she was equipment, or at least in a piece of my equipment.

Not that I was lacking in stasis pods for companions I'd figured out how to build Prothean stasis pods so I could take dozens of people with me on jumps if so I wished. Not that I intended to unless things really went badly, but it was best to be prepared.

"I'm also working to secure the shutters" Cortana told me "I'll have to fake a fire alarm so they don't start wondering why the shutters closed on their own".

Good that would ensure that the group wasn't separated for long. I could have followed Shepard to Archangel's base back when I'd seen her in Afterlife. But with Cortana working to tip the scales in Garrus's favour I wasn't too worried about them. No scars and cybernetics for that turian.

Besides I still had a job to do here. The cure was now ready thanks to the supplies I'd acquired, and the mad doctor guy was curing whole rooms full of people nearby. I was just here to help keep the place secure.

It was slow work, but there was no need to place the cure into the ventilation system now, it wouldn't help enough people to justify the danger, not when people were coming here for the cure.

We should be fine as long as...

That was when the air vents shut down and I swore. Great now I had to go and fix yet another problem, bloody stupid Shepard's Flock draw back, it just had to ramp up in the drama when ever Joan was around.

(Line Break)

 **Archangel's Base. Omega.**

"You've never heard of Gothic, have you?" Garrus asked while there was a lull in the fighting "You know the guy who found a living Prothean".

Realisation struck the old merc just like several bullets nearly had not that long ago.

"Wait, that's who you were talking about?" Zaeed asked "Cerberus has a bounty on him, the Shadow Broker wants him, and so do half a dozen groups here in Terminus. Fuck there's a few people on the Citadel who'd pay me for bringing him in".

The renegade Turian saw an all-too familiar gleam in Massani's remaining eye, and he quickly decided to offer some advice.

"Word to the wise, Massani" Garrus said "Hurt someone Shepard cares about and there's no place in the whole of the galaxy that you can go to hide from her and her team, and that's assuming you lived long enough to actually cash in the bounty".

The former C-Sec officer would also hunt the old merc if he dared to hurt one of his friends.

"Sonny, I survived a gunshot to the head," Zaeed said with a smirk on his face. "Do you really think that I'm scared of some woman?".

The Turian laughed coldly.

"There's a reason why no bounty hunter has ever managed to collect on the reward that you're thinking about" Garrus was now saying "The bounty is a biotic tech expert, who learned how to fight and win by working with Commander Shepard, just like I did. We've fought Geth, husks, pirates, slavers, mercs, biotic crazies, a planet monster, Rachii, Cerberus and a rogue Spectre, do you really think a bounty hunter stands a chance against us".

Zaeed wasn't impressed.

"None of them were me, kid. None of them were me," the scarred merc said.

"That's why you're still alive," Garrus said with a grunt.

Zaeed spent a moment thinking. He'd heard the stories. Everyone had heard the stories about what Shepard and her people could do. And anyone who could survive having the Shadow Broker after him was worth respecting as well. But the man was basically a Shepard groupie, how badass could he possibly be?

The old merc decided he'd wait and find out. There was no rush to collect that bounty, after all Cerberus was paying him a lot to be here.

(Line Break)

 **Slums. Omega.**

I was regretting staying here in the quarantine zone while Shepard and Garrus took on half the merc thugs in Omega. I was having to deal with the other half.

How the hell did Mordin talk me into marching into Vorcha Territory, with only his assistant for backup?

I'd already sorted out the fans, as sneaking around Vorcha and Krogan was easy when you were invisible. A few Krogan had said they smelled someone, but Omega stank so that hadn't led to anything. But this time I wasn't alone, so I'd been caught.

Stupid Shepard's Flock drawback, it had gotten so much worse now that she was close by.

While Dr. Daniel Abrams was a good doctor, he was also a total non-combatant and one hell of an annoying pacifist. Choosing not to fight because of his medical oath was all fine and dandy, but he really should have stayed out of Terminus systems.

Somehow we'd found our way into Vorcha Territory while helping those whose Mordin's cure for the plague hadn't come soon to keep them from getting sick, they were now cured, but the damage done to their bodies was another matter.

So far we had done well in helping a few Turians some Batarians and Salarians, but all too soon however we had run into problems, those problems being Vorcha who wanted to kill us.

"I'm a doctor!" Daniel yelled "I'm here to help people!"

If anything, the shooting from the Blood Pack gang thugs only got more intense. Did Vorcha not like doctors?

Thankfully they soon stopped, I suspected because they were low on ammo, or perhaps they were simply deciding who got eat what part of us.

"How's about you keep your head down while I deal with this" I suggested.

Daniel wasn't a happy camper right now.

"What's wrong with these people?" the doctor asked "Don't they realise that we have a dying patient we're trying to help here?".

"They realise it" I said "they just don't care! Not when most of the district thinks it was humans who created this sickness to kill them all off! Now do me a favour and KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!

The alien we'd been trying to treat was an asari, you didn't see many of them in this part of the station, she looked like life had been hard on her. Still she was better off then some, at least she survived long enough to be cured.

I only one had thermal clips left. Oh and I had no grenades left. I'd used them while sneaking about earlier to create distraction. Normally I'd just find a door and open up a way into my cosmic warehouse if I needed more thermal clips and grenades, I had whole boxes of the things lying around, but that wasn't really an option right now.

Thinking about it I realised that I could make it out of here on my own, no problem, but extracting the doctor and the Asari too? That was going to make things complicated. Perhaps I should just leave them behind, but my morals wouldn't allow it. Stupid morality.

I could have Cortana switch off the gravity in his section, but no that wasn't a good idea I wasn't good with zero g and we had an injured asari with us. The last thing she needed was to start bouncing off the walls.

Perhaps if I got Cortana to take out the lights we might make it. We could either run for it in the confusion or I could use the darkness and my cloaking device to get in close to Vorch. I could kill one, take its gun, and then hope they didn't just shoot me at random while firing at the shadows. Not a great plan, but it was the only one I had.

I was about to go and risk my life when the universe finally threw me a life line. Shepard showed up along with two Cerberus agents and started kicking some ass. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a couple of terrorists.

(Line Break)

 **CIC. Normandy SSV 2**

Once Doctor Solus was in the lab working Shepard decided to give me a tour of the new Normandy. The new ship was bigger, more powerful, but what really mattered to me was that I felt far less like a sardine in tin due to this craft having more internal space.

"Now this takes me back" I said as I looked around what passed for a bridge "Its bigger, that's nice. I always thought things were a little too cramped on the old Normandy.

EDI, who I'd already been introduced to, chose this moment to cut in.

"Commander," The AI said, "we have an emergency aboard ship that requires your immediate attention".

That didn't sound good.

"What going on EDI?" Shepard replied.

"There is a situation in the infirmary. When Jack regained consciousness she was quite distressed to find herself aboard a Cerberus ship" the AI answered "she has barricaded herself the infirmary and has taken Dr. Chakwas hostage, she is threatening violence".

Wait had Garrus not told Jack that we'd be serving on a Cerberus made ship? Any why was Jack in the Infirmary? Wait that didn't really matter, what mattered was calming things down.

"EDI, have security pull back, I'll be there ASAP" Joan was now saying.

I followed the Commander

"Jack hates Cerberus" I told my old CO "They're the ones that messed her up. We need to handle this carefully".

We arrived to find the Med bay barricaded. Jack had obviously used her biotics to shove most of the rooms less breakable furniture against the door; effectively barring access.

Chakwas was inside the room with her and despite Jack's look of murderous rage, the medic was calmly attending to the room's only other occupant, Garrus, who was still laying on the only bed not piled up in front of the door. I was pleased to see that he was awake and didn't looked damaged. I figured he must have only been mildly injured and was suffering from exhaustion.

Hopefully he wouldn't make a move against Jack. In his weakened state he'd be no match for her. Heck I wasn't sure that any of us could actually take down Subject Zero.

"Yo Shepard, get your ass in here" Jack demanded.

Subject Zero then screamed and reached out with her fist, the biotic force blasting the wall of debris away from the entrance. When the door opened she did some more yelling.

"Now you cut me loose, you cut me loose right now or I'll paint the fucking walls with the blood of your people" Jack threatened.

I had hoped that time spent working with Garrus would lighten her up. Clearly it had not.

"Jack if you hurt them I swear I will..." Shepard

We never found out what she would do as the doctor interrupted.

"Jack is under my care." Chakwas reminded us "Until she is released, she is my responsibility and under my protection. Now you will all stand down and we will talk this out like civilised adult.

Obeying the doctor Shepard lowered her weapon, and I stepped forward.

"Jack its me you know I hate Cerberus too" I said "And I got you out of that prison. You know I wouldn't let them take you".

So far Subject Zero wasn't trying to kill us, so that was a good sign.

"What you, your fucking with me, you have to be nobody just puts themselves out there like that for anybody. They just don't" she said "You took me off that ship because you wanted something from me".

Well I did want something.

"Jack I've never lied to you and I never will" I said, and this was true although there were things I'd never told her "I am not with Cerberus, we put together a team to help Shepard, we're just using Cerberus resources because no one else will do anything about the attacked colonies".

I had to find a way to calm her down.

"You people ...you fucking animals Cerberus, they did this to me" she was now saying.

I thought fast.

"Plus we'll pay you a lot of money" I offered.

That got her attention

"Name your price Jack" Shepard said

Subject Zero gave it some thought.

"This is a Cerberus ship with access to their databases, I want files, all the files, they have on me" she demanded.

Shepard just shrugged.

"Done, anything else?" the commander asked "How about an L5 amp".

Biotic Amps such as he human made L5 allowed biotics to synchronise the nodules of Element Zero within our bodies so that we could form Mass Effect fields large and strong enough for use in combat.

Jack and I both had an implant, which was a surgically-embedded interface port into which amps are "plugged in". In humans, the implant is usually placed at the base of the skull for convenient access, and while it had been kept clean it wasn't much of a fuss to keep it maintained.

The finest quality implants and amps were manufactured by asari artisans, but the Systems Alliance's L3 implants, which I'd used first, had been pretty good. But still I was glad I'd gotten the latest model, they were less noticeable and functioned better.

"She already has one" I said "I upgraded the both of us".

Shepard gave me a look that let me know I wasn't helping.

"Anything else Jack?" she then asked,

"I want a cut." Jack said.

"A cut of what?" Shepard asked.

Jack looked puzzled.

"A cut of the money" the biotic said "You're taking down mercs and pirates and shit heads, they got creds, good gear, I want a cut".

The last time I'd worked with Shepard we'd not got that much to go looting, as Alliance soldiers weren't suppose to that. Sure we got paid extra if we recovered new tech, or found resources on some world we scouted, but we never got to do proper looting. Hopefully that would change. I still had loads of space in Cosmic Warehouse.

"You work with me you'll get a share" Shepard promised.

Jack finally calmed down.

"Fine" she then said "But those Cerberus cunts better stay away from me".

Yeah that would be a good idea.

(Line Break)

 **Engineering Deck. SSV Normandy.**

So far my time on this ship had been interesting. The ship's yeoman, Kelly Chambers, had made several subtle, but still noticeable, advances and if she hadn't been such an obvious a plant, I might have started flirting back. But she'd admitted to me that she kept an eye on the crew, and I knew she would be making reports directly to the Illusive Man.

No until this crew started to fall under the spell of whatever magic it was that Shepard used to make people loyal to her I was going to avoid the Cerberus lot.

I was heading for main engineering room and drive core, which was my new work station since Shepard had decided to make Chief Engineer. A job was somewhat qualified for having served on a few star ships over the last two, and I did have technical knowledge. I was sure the commander would prefer to have me as her XO, as I had been during the Illos mission, but I didn't think Miranda would give up her office.

That was when I stopped walking and decided to take the stairs down to the sub spaces. The place was dark, cramped, and nearly devoid of people. That seemed to fit Jack perfectly and she'd somehow managed to arrange for a cot and several other necessities to make their way down here.

Jack sat on the cot, reading over a data pad. Several more were scattered around on the floor. I figured she was taking full advantage of the access Shepard had given her to Cerberus data banks.

I also took careful note of the pistol she'd placed on the bed next to her, where it would be easily accessible if she needed it. Made sense given that she riding aboard what she clearly considered to be an enemy ship.

She'd even managed to get some new clothes from somewhere, because she wasn't topless anymore. In place of where most people would wear a shirt of some kind she wore something made of white fabric. The cloth crisscrossed her body, and was thickest around her modest chest, so to offer support I assumed, but still thin enough that I could see the hint of her nipples. They also did almost nothing to conceal the tattoos that covered her body.

The sides of her head were shaved bare, exposing more tattoos, and the rest of her dark brown hair had been pulled back into a short tail. Making her look more like she did in ME3 than ME2

"Well?" she said with a sneer. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?""

Not really. I was here on a whim.

"I actually came down to check on how you were settling in" I said "To make sure you have everything you need".

"Why?" she asked.

I wasn't sure how to answer that.

"On the last Normandy it was my job to make sure the crew had everything they needed" I told her "That's not my job anymore, but old habits die hard".

She said nothing.

"Fine you can look after yourself" I said.

I then turned to leave.

"Wait a fucking second, Goth" she said.

I turned to face her.

"Goth?" I asked.

She ignored that.

"If this is about sex, you should just fucking say so" Jack said.

This made me smile.

"You're not my type" I said.

She seemed to take that as a challenge.

"You won't be saying that after we fuck" she stated.

At this point I had a choice. I could take her up on the offer; pin her against the bulkhead and fuck her brains out, or just leave.

"Look I just got out of prison" she reminded me "And I'm fucking horny. I wouldn't fuck anyone on Omega, because you know its Omega, and all the guys here are either Cerberus or Garrus, and he's not a guy, you know what I mean".

Some humans simply weren't attracted to aliens. Not for racist reasons it was just a matter of taste. Like how some people only liked blonds.

"I don't really see the fucking problem" Jack was now saying "You're a guy, you always want sex".

Well it had been a while.

"Alright." I said, giving in "Fuck it."

"That's the idea" she said.

She grabbed me by my black short sleeved shirt. Then the crazy bitch shoved me; hard. Her strength took me off guard and I stumbled backward, falling onto her cot.

"No foreplay bullshit" she demanded "I was touching myself before you started bothering me".

She stripped and when she turned to toss her clothing away I saw that her ass was covered in just as many tattoos as the rest of her body, and when she turned to face me I saw that she had piercing just above her clit.

"Get up" she then said "You can do the work".

I let her take my place, and started fucking her as soon I could, with no concern over her enjoyment. Not that she had any room to complain, she was the one who'd demanded I fuck her after all. If she got more than she asked for that was hardly my problem.

With force I pulled out and drove into her again. She was wet, and tight, and felt fucking fantastic! It had definitely been too long. I figured I hadn't realised how much I'd missed this, if I had, I might not have restrained myself with all those horny asari back on Omega.

It would seem as if I wasn't the only one to feel this way, because as my cock crashed into her again Jack dug her nails into my back. As I continued to pound her, she started to move her hips, as if urging my dick deeper. Each thrust landed harder than the last and I felt her get tighter and tighter around my shaft until she came with an explosive moan.

"Fuuuck!" she yelled.

My body screamed at me to do just what she said, demanding that I plow this bitch with everything I had until I left her quivering in a puddle of her own cum. Which was exactly what I went on to do. If she wasn't going to be nice me then I wasn't going to be nice to her. At least not right now.


	5. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - The Citadel

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 5**

 **The Citadel.**

 **Embassy. The Presidium.**

Anderson's large and clean office overlooked the Presidium, giving him a ridiculously nice view of the area below. I stared out at the spacious vista, while doing my best to mentally prepare myself for the meeting with the council.

From here I could see the large and still standing statue of a hulking Krogan warrior that towered over the repaired Presidium. It had not been damage during Saren's rampage despite bits of Reaper having fallen all around here, and all the Geth blowing stuff up.

That had hardly the first threat to the galaxy I reasoned while looking at the statue. There had been a really nasty war because of the Salarians 'accidentally-on-purpose' unleashing the Rachni on the galaxy, sparking off the so-called Rachni Wars. Then they unleashed the Krogan to correct that mistake and then unleashed the Genophage on the Krogan to fix the Krogan problem. The Genophage effectively sterilised the normally hyper fertile Krogan. However the Salarians didn't really see a problem with this since the Genophage hadn't wiped the Krogans out.

As far as I was concerned however the Krogans had gotten royally screwed for saving the galaxy. It was the Salarians who had taken a people clearly not ready for star travel and given room to expand too quickly. This made me think that maybe the Federation's Prime Directive wasn't so stupid after all.

What made matters worse was that according to the last living Rachni Queen, Sovereign had been the motivating force behind the Rachni Wars and the events that had followed. Which led to me wondering how far back had Sovereign involved been involving itself with galactic affairs.

I looked over at Shepard, who had been in a good mood until the holographic projectors had flared into the life to display the four Councillors. Udina was either with them in some meeting room, or was transmitting from another office.

The Asari Councillor Tevos actually looked at me for a moment, and I realised that she would know about the Cipher, but with an actual Prothean around the asari weren't after me anymore. Which wasn't to say they wouldn't like the Cipher, but they weren't pressing the issue. I was sure that if given the chance they would try to seduce it out of me rather than take it by force. Which is why I avoided ever being alone with an asari.

I also saw the Salarian Councillor Valern who rarely spoke during the times I saw him, but I was sure that his mind was very active during these meetings.

Then, of course, there was Turian Councillor Sparatus. His relationship with Team Normandy had always been contentious. I wondered if that was at least in part it was because Shepard's rise to fame, as a Spectre, had come at the expense of the Turian Spectre Saren. Until Shepard had come along Saren had been the exemplar; the standard by which all Spectres before Shepard were judged.

The fact that Saren had betrayed the Council and tried to murder them seemed less important to Sparatus than the fact that most of the galaxy now considered Joan Shepard to be the ideal Spectre.

However I might be reading to much into it. Sparatus did have valid reasons to worry about Shepard and her team. We did have a habit of solving problems with violence, and Spectres weren't really meant to draw attention to themselves.

And of course there was Udina, who was most likely attending this meeting via hologram so that none of us would beat him up.

"Admiral Anderson," Tevos acknowledged. "I see that the Commander has joined us. Later than we had hoped".

So we weren't off to a great start.

"The press was all over Shepard the moment she arrived" Anderson said "You now how that can be".

We'd saved an entire refinery before coming here. Which I didn't recall happening the game, but Liara and I had spun it to our advantage using Emily Wong yet again. All those poor factory workers being saved from certain death had people on the Shepard band waggon one again.

"We've heard a number of reports since your return" the salarian was now saying "some of which have been unsettling".

"We thought to give you the chance to account for your actions," Tevos said.

Her tone of voice was only slightly-condescending. She so reminded me of one of my school teachers.

"After all," she added, "You did save us from Saren and his Geth"

I found myself speaking.

"Actually the Alliance fleet saved the Destiny Ascension" I said "you just happened to be aboard her at the time".

And my motivation had been to save ten thousand hot blue babes. A noble goal.

"Gothic" Shepard hissed at me "Not helping".

The conversation soon moved onto the fact that the Collectors were attacking human colonies. Only the Council didn't really see that, according them there was only evidence of one unknown ship being spotted at Freedom's Progress.

"This is just like Saren all over again" Anderson said "You ignored Shepard then and we nearly lost everything".

Shepard spoke next.

"Look, if you want to pretend that there's no danger, then go right ahead and stick your heads in the sand that's fine" she said "But there are people out there who will take this seriously".

"If you're hinting about going to the media..." Sparatus started to say.

"No, I'm talking about the Illusive Man," Shepard said, not letting the turian finish "he's using your inactivity over the Collector attack, and the idea of them being minions of the Reapers, in order to rally people to his banner".

I wouldn't be surprised if the ranks of Cerberus had swelled over the last two years.

"Is that how he gathered YOU to his cause?" the Turian snapped back.

Well kind of.

"The hundreds of thousands of missing humans are why I working with Cerberus, and not for them" Shepard told them" Freedom's Progress was the work of the Collectors and I can prove it. I have material evidence from the scene, recordings taken with an omni-tool. and an eye witness who saw the attack. I had less than this when you sent me after Saren".

Yeah a recording of Saren trying to kill Nilhus would have been nice. Why hadn't I thought of that? I could have set up a camera. Stupid me.

"All you can prove is that the Collectors are acting aggressively. That's not proof of a greater conspiracy, nor is it proof of Reaper involvement" the turian debated.

Shepard sighed.

"So you aren't going to do anything. Again" Joan said "Do you remember how well that worked out last time you stood by and did nothing. Saren nearly killed us all".

That was how I remembered it.

"If humanity can't look after its own affairs..."

Valern tried to interject, but Shepard interrupted him.

"If these attacks were happening to an Asari colony or a Turian colony, then you can bet your ass that I'd be doing exactly what I'm doing now!" she shouted, having lost her patience. "I'd be working with who ever I could to find the Collectors and stop them!".

To be fair she would.

"We have never resorted to working with known terrorists in order to deal with threats to our sovereignty" Valern remarked.

"No, because you have the Spectres to deal with your problems," Sheppard reminded "Humanity doesn't have Spectres, so no wonder they turn to groups like Cerberus".

Tevos managed to settle things down, at least somewhat.

"The Commander has a point" the diplomat said "Matters like this are why we created the Spectres. I say that we let her do what is necessary in order to deal with this perceived Collector threat".

Well that would be something at least.

"What about her dealings with Cerberus?" Sparatus asked "The Council can't be seen supporting the activities of a xenophobic terrorist group!".

That was a sticky issue.

"Most of my crew is actually former Alliance," Shepard told the Council "They're mostly made up of soldiers that were fed up with the Admiralty's wait-and-see approach to threats like the Collectors. Plus I have non-humans serving aboard my ship. I can truthfully say that I'm working with a mixed group which includes one part of Cerberus, a single cell that is operatating separately from the others. Besides its not like I formally joined the organisation I'm just using their resources".

The four councillors exchanged looks.

"Clearly we can't show direct support" Udina was now saying "But if we do nothing it will look as if we are either powerless to protect the colonies or unwilling to. The people must believe that the Council has their best interests at heart".

They exchanged looks again. Clearly expressing much to each other without actually using words.

"If it helps once the mission is done I intend to turn myself into the Alliance" Shepard told everyone.

Truthfully I wasn't sure what I'd do once the Collectors were defeated. I could turn myself in as well, maybe try to get myself posted to the Normandy when the Alliance did the refit. Or maybe I could offer my services at the Mars archives. They might take me on since I was a known Prothean expert.

"The Council will uphold your Spectre status" the asari was now saying.

"As long as you keep a low profile," Sparatus added.

Fat chance of that.

"Define low-profile," Shepard asked innocently.

The Turian Councillor wasn't fooled for a second.

"I'm talking about the opposite of what you did last time; no nuking planets, no quasi-legal assassinations, no rampant property damage" he listed.

When had we assassinated anyone? They'd ordered us to bring in Benezia dead or alive.

"We look forward to a swift resolution to this affair, and a swifter end to your association with Cerberus," Tevos said as she closed the connection on her end.

When the holograms vanished we all turned to the admiral.

"Well, that could have gone better," Anderson said.

I somehow didn't think so.

"Well it could've gone much worse," Shepard pointed out "At least now they'll stay out of my way".

Which was something at least. Assuming of course they did stay out of our way. I wasn't so sure they would.

"Are you really going to just hand yourself over to the Alliance?" Garrus asked Shepard.

I sure wasn't going to, at least not without a damn good reason.

"No reason I shouldn't" she replied.

Anderson sighed.

"It would be easier if you just came in from the cold right now" the admiral said "We can always say that you were held captive and that you stole your new ship during your escape".

This was Shepard, people would believe it.

"I'm going to stop the Collectors" the once again Spectre promised "Someone has to".

Anderson sighed again.

"The Alliance is moving on this, Shepard" he assured her "Maybe not as fast as you'd like, but we are taking action. We're already gathering data from the latest colony abduction, and we're comparing it to what you found at Freedom's Progress".

"Wait, what?" Shepard asked, taken off-guard. "Who's been abducted now?".

It must be really recent since I'd not heard anything on it, which meant Liara hadn't as of yet, that or she was working on something else. She was focused on the Shadow Broker.

"Ferris Fields," Anderson told us "The reports started coming in only a few hours ago. No survivors, except for a company of soldiers working a construction detail several clicks south of the colony. Ferris Fields was in the Terminus systems so we didn't have a proper military presence, just a few soldiers as part our outreach program".

To have targeted another colony so quickly either meant that the Collectors had more than one ship or that their cruiser was working over time.

"Damn it I was screwing around with Blue Sun mercs on Zorya when the Collectors came for those guys" Shepard said, berating herself "If I'd ignored Zaeed, maybe we'd have heard something in time to head 'em off!"

I doubted it. Without some counter measure for the Seeker Swarms there wasn't much we could do for the colonies.

"You did good on Zorya, though, Shepard," Anderson assured her "I might not always agree with the way you do things, but I know you have the best of intentions. Plus the press are focused on the rescue, that helps your case".

Shepard wasn't soothed, and Anderson sensed this.

"I'll send all our data on the Ferris Fields abduction to your ship," Anderson offered. "You can go over the data, but I'd recommend against going there. The Alliance is all over that sector, and a Cerberus ship might look like tempting target practice for people out for revenge".

Shepard was now getting herself under control.

"I have some business to attend to before I leave" she said

Garry's loyalty mission.

"Anything I can help with?" Anderson asked.

Given the Council's warning it seemed unwise for Shepard to go and assassinate someone, but she was more renegade than paragon at times. Although there were moment when she was down right heroic. Real people are sometimes to complex for karma systems

"We're following up on some leads on a local criminal named Fade" Joan told her former captain.

"That guy?" Anderson said with a groan "How much trouble is this going to cause me, Shepard?"

A lot

"Just go to C-Sec Headquarters, I think that Executor Chellick might have some information" Anderson then said "If he causes you problems tell him I sent you".

Well we best get going then.

(Line Break)

 **C-Sec HQ. The Citadel.**

Since I was good at reading Turian facial expressions thanks to spending so much time with aliens over the last couple of years I could see how Chellick visibly soured as he looked up from some report, only to see us enter his office.

"And here I thought my day was going to go smoothly," Chellick remarked, while shaking his head.

"Am I missing something?" Shepard asked "I know that I was never your favourite human, but come on I'm not that bad".

Chellick sighed.

"If there are security issues involving Councillors or their chosen agents, then C-Sec should handle it" he then said "I don't need Spectres getting involved with police work, we do things by the book here, we do not go charging into night clubs with guns blazing".

Was he still sore about that. It had been more than two years ago! Besides if we hadn't then we never would have gotten Tali and her evidence, so there would have been no human Spectre to chase Saren which would have led to the return of the Reapers.

"And the reason that I left C-Sec is suddenly coming back to me," Garrus muttered.

He must have been thinking along the same lines as I had.

"Don't you mean, the reason we let you leave?" Chellick said with a sneer. "You were always a loose cannon Vakarian. It was only a matter of time before you got into the kind of trouble that would make every C-Sec agent look bad".

"I was making C-Sec look bad?" Garrus snapped back

Chellick stood up, he looked upset.

"I've heard the rumours from Omega, The Turian vigilante Archangel. It didn't take me long to figure out who was behind the mask!" he bellowed.

This went on for a while. I zoned out as best I could.

"Enough of this!" Shepard suddenly yelled. "Chellick, we're looking for Fade, and while you don't like Spectres it doesn't matter how you feel you have to work with me. Besides I get my authority from the Council, so if you don't like the way I do things, take it up with them".

The man behind the desk began to calm down.

"Fade. Why do you want him?" the turian asked.

"We don't. What we want is one of his clients, a criminal who fled to the Citadel from Omega" Garrus said.

No one mentioned the revenge angle.

"Fade has some contacts in Zakera Ward," Chellick said while turning to his terminal. "That's Armando Bailey's precinct. If you really need to find Fade, then you can start there. Just try not to blow up half the station".

I couldn't help noticing that the Commander didn't make that promise.

(Line Break)

 **Zakera Ward. The Citadel.**

As a group we headed down to Zakera Ward and moved through the crowds, looking for the warehouse Bailey had told us was being used by Fade or one of his lieutenants as a meeting place. We were getting close to our target when a shouting voice got our attention.

The source of the noise was a C-Sec Officer who was yelling at a Quarian while a Volus was ranting at both of them.

"Lia'Vael nar Ulnaya" the alien woman was saying.

Since her name was nar rather than vor, that meant she'd never become proper crew on a quarian ship, she might be her on her pilgrimage, she wouldn't be the first quarian to leave to Migrant Fleet and end up stuck.

"Look, lady, I really don't have a time for your complicated bucket head names so can we just pick one and go with it?" the officer was now saying.

"Lia'Vael," she said, sounding miserable.

By now the Commander was ready to interfere.

"Is there a problem?" Shepard asked, while striding up to them.

This might be amusing so I decided to get closer for a better view.

"Nothing that needs any civilian help, ma'am, so if you'll just move along..." the officer began to say.

"What's wrong? Is this bosh'tet bothering you?" Shepard asked the Quarian girl.

The Volus spoke next.

"This clanless is loitering! She obviously intends to steal from my business establishment! I want her arrested!" he demanded.

Wasn't this suppose be about a lost credit chip. Most be a minor change in the time line.

"All this, for a loitering complaint?" Garrus asked.

I'd never been a cop, but judging by the turian's reaction it wasn't normal for C-Sec officers to do stuff like this.

"C-Sec takes complaints like this very seriously, sir," the C-Sec officer replied.

I had an amusing idea.

"Hey Shepard" I said "Maybe you should talk to Chellick about this idiot, the Executor might fire the guy just to get you out of his office".

It wouldn't surprise me.

"You know Executor Chellick? the cop asked.

Garrus stepped forward.

"What's you name?" he demanded to know.

"Tammert. Officer Tammert," the officer said officially.

"Tammert, do you have a single piece of actual evidence that says that this civilian has done anything illegal?" Garrus asked next.

The officer visible paled.

"Well, not directly, but she's a Quarian and you know what they're all like," Tammert said defensively.

Shepard was not happy.

"Seeing as how I've worked with a Quarian in the past, one who helped me keep this entire station from being destroyed, I'm well aware of 'what quite a few of them are like'" she replied.

Now the officer wasn't happy either. It was very amusing to watch.

"Wait, you're that Shepard, Commander Shepard?" Lia'Vael asked "The one who helped Tali'Zorah save the Citadel".

No one ever said 'Oh your Gothic, the guy who commanded the Normandy during the battle to save the Citadel'. Why was what that?

"The Earth-clan Spectre? Ah, I see," the Volus was now saying, no doubt knowing full well how much trouble he could be in "Perhaps I was a little too hasty in my accusations of this clanless. So if the Earth-clan doesn't mind, then I will withdraw my complaint. I'd be happy to forget this unpleasant incident".

By now the officer had backed off, and suddenly seemed to be needed elsewhere judging by now quickly he was moving.

"Thank you" Lia'Vael was now saying "I was only hanging out here because that Volus had people moving a lot of mechs through here, so I thought that they might need a qualified mech programmer, I was going to go in ask for a job, but then I saw all these guys with blue armour, and thought maybe it was best to wait until they left".

Wait what?

(Line Break)

 **C-Sec Office. The Citadel.**

Turns out that Officer Tammert ran interference for Fade, by making sure anyone who hung around the wards didn't get to close to what Fade was up to. Tammert also kept Fade informed of C-Sec activities in the area, and that Volus we'd bumped into ran a business that was a front for Fade's criminal operations.

As expected Fade turned out to be Harkin, that corrupt old drunk of a C-Sec officer you see in Chora's Den in Mass Effect 1. Apparently Harkin had lost his job and had gone into business for himself. He'd used his contacts in C-Sec, guys like Tammert, in order to cover his own ass while helping crooks vanish in order to escape justice.

Finding Harkin had been super easy; getting to him, not so much. He figured that a couple of dozen Blue Suns with mech support was all the protection he'd need to keep us away. Oh boy had he been wrong. After taking on so many mercs recently a few squads of Blue Suns didn't take us very long to deal with.

Armando Bailey stood up from his desk as we piled into his office, and when I looked at him I realised that every time Shepard got into a fire fight there was some poor bastard who had come in and clean up afterwards. No wonder Executor Chellick got upset when he saw us, even just clearing up the bodies must take up a lot of C-Sec resources.

"Do I even want to know why I'm getting reports of a Goddamn war in the Factory District?" he asked.

Garrus shoved Harkin forward.

"Former agent Harkin would like to confess to being Fade" he said.

"Harkin was Fade?" Bailey muttered.

"Oh, that's not even the best part," Sheppard said as she shoved Tammert forward "You can blame this asshole here for Fade's access to your systems. Not only is he a traitor but he's also a jackass, and a racist".

Harsh, but true.

"Shepard" Garrus whispered "being a jackass and a racist are not crimes".

"Well, they should be" Joan said while crossing her arms. "Anyway we pulled enough data from Harkin's servers that you should be able to track done at least a few of the criminals that he's helped slip through your security net".

Bailey examined the data and his expression changed to something close to glee.

"Harkin, you've been a very naughty boy" he then said.

"You're crazy if you think that I'm going down alone, Bailey," Harkin said with a sneer "You know what I'm talking about."

Bailey smirked.

"Yeah the thing is that you brought in my a Spectre" the officer replied.

Spectres (Special Tactics and Reconnaissance) were agents entrusted with extraordinary authority by the Citadel Council, including the power of life and death over the inhabitants of the galaxy. They formed an elite group selected from a number of different species, and their primary responsibility was to preserve galactic stability by whatever means necessary.

"They have what's called supralegal authority" Bailey was now "Which means if she tells me to I can lock you away without the right to a trail. That means no lawyer, and you never see the outside of a cell for the rest of your life. Or you can cooperate with us, have your day in court, and maybe get a reduced sentence".

Bailey then turned to the Commander.

"You've really helped me out here, Shepard" he said "Is here anything else you need?".

Joan nodded.

"As a matter of fact there is" she replied "Harkin helped a Turian slip onto the station, a recent arrival from Omega. We need you to send some guys to go pick him up".

The turian in our group was not please to hear this.

"Shepard, what are you doing? We can handle this ourselves," Garrus insisted.

"Yeah, we could," she said with a shrug. "Or we could get a couple of C-Sec guys to do the heavy lifting for us".

Garrus was not a happy alien right now.

"Sidonis is mine. I'm going to deal with that traitor" he stated.

"What were you going to do, blow him away with your sniper rifle? C'mon, Garrus, you can do better than that" Shepard replied.

"How can you, of all people, have a problem with me killing someone who's had it coming when you were practically cheering me on as we killed Saleon?" Garrus said.

I'd not known they'd done that, but it explain how Doctor Heart's ship ended up at a used space ship lot here on the Citadel. I'd brought so Tali could give it to the captain of the ship she served on now.

On the subject of Quarians I'd instructed Lia'Vael to get in touch with Liara. Lia'Vael was an observant young lady and would make a good agent here on the Citadel. I figured after a few months spent passing on information that she'd earn enough for a ride home and a nice pilgrimage gift.

"That's because you looked that bastard in the eye and pulled the trigger" Shepard was now saying "If you're gonna kill Sidonis, then you should look him in the eye".

Garrus frowned, while glaring at Shepard as she stared him down.

"Fine" the turian said "But I will kill him".

I decided that I didn't really want to see that. Besides I'd done a little much biotics when going after Harkin I needed go somewhere and find something to eat.

(Line Break)

 **Zakera Cafe. The Citadel.**

Once I'd separated from the rest of the group I'd headed to the wards The five "arms" of the Citadel are known as the Wards. They were the residential centres of the Citadel, each was essentially a self-contained city home to millions, with a population density equal to the Earth cities of Singapore or Hong Kong.

The skyscrapers of the Wards were sealed against vacuum as the atmosphere was only maintained to a certain height. Though the inhabitants of the Wards usually rebuild and arrange buildings to their liking, the keepers have been known to descend on areas of the Wards and rearrange them.

That must be strange. I could imagine some coming home to find that apartment was now bigger or smaller, or no longer even existed.

In times of need, like during that combined Reaper/Geth attack no seemed to remember I'd helped stop, the Wards can be closed, turning the Citadel into an impenetrable cylinder, protecting the people inside.

Currently I was within Zakera ward which contained stores such as Saronis Applications and Rodam Expeditions, both of which I would soon visit. There was also a bar called the Dark Star Lounge, which I had never visited before despite having come to the Citadel more than few times over the last few years. I'd have to correct that error.

Right now I was sitting at Zakera Cafe and I had to admit that this place really did have the best food on the Citadel, or at least it was better than in any other place I'd found here on the station. The cafe didn't just serve meals they also sound some items for personal use in the home, and the cafe also had a wholesale business for large orders.

I was currently ordering some stuff for the ship while trying out a few of this places dishes. I had the Metavore perk so I could a lot, and biotics needed to, without getting fat. In fact it was a challenge to get enough because I was normally so busy.

"Okay so I'll take a bottle of asari honey marinade" I told the turian shopkeeper.

"That stuff comes from an Ardat-Yakshi monastery" he told me "Not that I've been able find out what an Ardat-Yakshi is".

He was better off not knowing. If he knew that there were asari around who were basically sex vampires he might start getting paranoid, after all there were asari every where.

"Here's your Krogan sandwich" the turain said "Well its based on a Krogan sandwich. I added fresh lettuce and tomatoes, it goes well with varren meat, and I cooked the meat since humans prefer it that way".

It looked more like a large burger than a sandwich, and I wasn't sure if I could fit it my mouth, but I gave it the old college try.

"Wow that's good" I said.

The turian nodded.

"You need to head down to the Fishdog Food Factory and purchase their Tummy Tingling Tuchanka Sauce" he advised "I don't sell it, but I use it when ever I cook Varren".

I'd get a whole case, it was good stuff.

"Anything else you recommend?" I enquired "I have a mixed crew on my current ship so I could with some stuff for dextro-acid species".

Last time Garrus and Tali had gotten by on nutrient paste, but that had been on a military ship, this time we had more room and a money for comforts.

"Actually I do specialise in making food from one race more suitable for other races" the turian told me as I ate my giant sandwich "I've just finished my dextro-acid instant ramen. I don't get that many humans here, but I do have an levo version as well if you have a mixed crew".

I ordered a case of both. Just in case anyone fancied a late night snack.

"You gonna be able to eat all that?" Jack asked me.

My fellow biotic had found me while wandering around. Shepard might be annoyed if I let Subject Zero break parts of the Citadel.

"Give the lady a Krogan sandwich and milkshake" I said to the owner of the cafe "My treat".

Jack sat down.

"I think you were suppose to buy me dinner before you fucked me" she said.

Well normally yes.

"Better late than never" I replied.

As soon as the food arrived Jack attacked it and I made a mental note to talk to Chakwas about Jack's diet, she was skinny even for a biotic and she used her powers a lot more often that I did.

(Line Break)

 **Dark Star Lounge. The Citadel.**

As it turned out this place wasn't so bad, although the bar tender was a bit tight lipped. Other than it had the expected dancers, and people looking for a night of fun.

"So did you kill him" I asked.

Garrus had just sat down next to me.

"No" the turian said as I ordered him a beer.

I didn't care much for Sidonis, I cared about how these events affected my friends.

"Shepard just talked to him and he confessed" Garrus told me once he'd finished swallowing down something blue coloured that came in a glass "The Blue Suns they showed Sidonis pictures of his sister and her children, then they told him they'd all die if he didn't do exactly what they instructed him to do".

Well that explained the sudden betrayal. I'd never liked Sidonis, but perhaps my knowledge of the future had prevented me from seeing who he really was.

"He told us everything" Garrus then said "Technically he conspired to murder my team, but that happened on Omega so all he's guilty of here is getting smuggled onto the station. Captain Bailey let that drop in exchange for Sidonis testifying again Harkin".

The turian sighed.

"No I don't know what to do" he admitted.

I gave it some thought.

"Well all you can do is honour what your friends die fighting for" I said "And that was to protect people, people are in danger right now because of the Collectors, so let's go fight them".

Garrus finished his drink and stood up.

"Yeah that sounds about right" he agreed "But first I need some sleep. I'll see you back on the Normandy".

I nodded to him as he left and went back to my drink. At least now I didn't feel like a total asshole for not killing Sidonis weeks ago. Still it was going to be a while before I felt like a decent person, because I could have prevent Garrus from losing most of his team. But what would that have cost later?

That wasn't a question I had an answer for, and I doubted that I'd find the answer at the bottom of glass of whatever this green stuff was, but I was damn well going to look.


	6. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Miranda

**Author Note.**

A short chapter I wrote mostly because I've had people complain that I didn't explain what Jump Chain is. Plus I want to add to list of potential harem members. He can build all the stasis pods he'll ever need so no sense limiting the harem at this point.

 **Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 6**

 **Miranda.**

 **Cosmic Warehouse. Outside Of Reality.**

Things were tense right now. I'd booked a hotel room on the Citadel, in order to have access to a door I could open with my special key without anyone noticing. That plan had gone balls up because Miranda Lawson, the Cerberus cheerleader, had broken into my hotel room and she'd entered the Cosmic Warehouse.

What made this tense was that I know had to decide if I was going to tell her everything or if I should shoot her and hide her body in a stasis pod. Or I could make it for the door, and try to lock her in, which would kill her if my understanding of the warehouse was correct. It would be more moral to knock her out, stick her in a pod and let her go later when Cerberus wasn't an issue, but she wouldn't be easy to over power.

Having guns pointed at each other made the whole thing rather more dramatic. Needlessly so really since it might not be possible to die when in the Cosmic Warehouse, I knew that you couldn't be ill while in here, but that might not mean I couldn't be shot. But even if I did die I'd just be sent home, which was something I'd not learned about until after finishing ME1.

"What is this place?" Miranda demanded to know.

I lowered my pistol, and she did the same. Neither of us really wanted to shoot the other, well not much.

"Stand down robots" I ordered.

I'd gotten robots for extra defence, they'd not shot Miranda, at least not yet, and I might be glad of that.

"This is my Cosmic Warehouse" I told her, while wishing that the scary Jump Chan girl would come here and just download the information into Miranda's head like she had done with Tali "Its an extra-dimensional storage area that is the only means of transporting items between Jumps".

Which only made sense to me I soon realised.

"You're talking nonsense" said the woman "What are Jumps, and who are you, really?".

I'd answer the less personal question first.

"A Jumper is person like me, an ordinary human, who is chosen by a powerful entity, to go on adventures through fictional universes" I explained "Well what people in my world would consider fictional".

I'd have to tell her more, and then decide if I was going to kill her or not.

"The Jumper takes on new identities with each new world visited, but remains fundamentally the same person" I was now saying "with each new Jump they gain additional perks, powers, skills, and abilities, items, and even companions. A Jumper can even pick up people from the worlds they have visited and join the Jumper when he or she visits new worlds".

It was at this point that I realised my explanation really wasn't doing any good because Miranda had no context for what I was telling her. I could explain every little detail, but that could take hours, and there was an easy way.

"There's a terminal there" I told Miranda, while pointing at the device "Why don't you just take a look at my files and afterwards I will answer any questions you have".

If I could tempt Miss Lawson with a trip to other realities she might willingly join my harem, or at the very least not tell the Illusive Man all about me. Then I wouldn't have to shoot her, at least not right now.

(Line Break)

Cosmic Warehouse. Outside Of Reality.

Hours had passed, and while I'd used this time to further organise my warehouse, so as to make space for more salvaged tech and other items. I'd also spent a lot of the time worrying about Miranda Lawson.

She hadn't stopped reading for hours now and every so often she'd stop and make notes on a data pad. I had no idea what she was writing down, and once in a while she'd turn to face me and smile. I wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Okay I've finished" she suddenly declared.

Finally.

"You've been reading about Jump Chain for hours" I said "Is it really that interesting?".

She nodded.

"If I understand all of this correctly you were contacted by an omnipotent entity, a very dangerous and somewhat bored omnipotent entity who has taken the form of a woman who likes to be called Jump Chan for some reason".

That was how this had all started.

"She decided to send you on adventures across the multiverse in order to keep her entertained" Miranda was now saying "and she's most likely doing this with a lot other people since she's not interacting with you that often. But if the multiverse is as vast as theorised its unlikely you'll ever met any of these other Jumpers".

Wow she was better able to explain all this than I was.

"Every 'fictional' world you arrive in you must survive for 10 years by whatever means you see fit. From there you can go home, stay in your current world or move on to a new one" she went on to say "You can keep your new abilities, gear, powers, friends, etc. from one adventure to the next. If you die, however, you are sent home immediately. You keep what you have so far, but your multiversal adventuring days are over. If you die your friends, or this harem you have planned, also get sent home".

Yeah she had it figured out.

"Your long term goal is to achieve a sufficient power level required to survive in the most dangerous of universes. Once you've done one of these end jumps you win the game as it were" was what Miranda said next "At that point the entity known as Jump Chan will grant you the 'Planeswalker Spark' which will allow you to freely travel the multiverse. However there's nothing in the rules that prevents you from making more than ten jumps. I checked the fine print and you have to do what's called an End Jump to get this 'Planeswalker Spark' but that doesn't actually have to be your tenth jump. You could just keep doing Jumps until you either decide to stop or you could even retire somewhere".

I nodded.

"That's about it" I said "Although I do want that Planeswalker Spark".

Miranda then passed me her data pad.

Drop-In - You wake up in your chosen location with no overlapping memories to mess with your mind.

Timeline:

1991, The Second Terminator Movie.

Perks:

Smash Those Metal Motherfuckers - You have received several years worth of training on how to fight. Giving you basic proficiency with the all handheld weaponry used in the 1980s to the 2000s. You won't necessarily know the entire ins and outs of the weapons, but you will know how to shoot them reliably. You also have a general idea of what kind of weaponry would be needed to deal with armored targets.

Judgement Day - You automatically know the exact date and time to Judgment Day. Outside this jump, Judgment Day counts as any mass extinction or apocalyptic event for sapient species within 100 years and how, but not why, it happens. Because the future is not written, this perk will keep track of the event to the hour. So if the 2 year away apocalyptic event turned into 2 weeks and 3 hours, you will instantly know.

Most Paranoid Delusions Are Intricate - For the normal person it's hard to find out who's actually telling the truth and who needs a straight jacket. You, however, can spot these. Whether it's through experience or a gut instinct, you will know if an apparent conspiracy theorist/nutjob is actually telling a factual or rational account. Grows in power and accuracy in relation to the threat. If they're telling the truth about the end of all mankind, you will know 100%.

Thank You, Jumper, For Your Courage Through The Dark Years - Your skills in passing on knowledge and raising people are great. You could train and raise a child to be able to fight and survive during humanities darkest hour. Whether it is one-on-one or with groups, you can give them your knowledge and courage.

Hey, Wait! You Swore! - Whenever you make a deal with someone, whether it be through a legal document or a pinky promise, they will not break it. If you make a machine that was built purely for assassination swear to not kill any human, no human casualties will accrue because of it. This doesn't give you a blanket cover. Said machine from earlier will still maim people and break ankles, but they will live. A person with an incredible amount of willpower can resist this perk. But no matter what, they will still feel really hesitant to and guilty if they do.

No Fate But What We Make - You are not bound by fate nor is anyone you work with. Your destiny is only what you make of it. No magician or time-traveller can ever force you onto a different path against your will. This extends to the point that people and things that are deemed unstoppable or even unkillable, just because they are destined to, can be killed by you permanently. Finally, it protects you from time-travelers in general. For if someone wants to kill you. They have to kill you in the present. Traveling through time to kill your mother won't work.

One Possible Future. From Your Point Of View - Time travel is anything but simple. One trip can be complicated. 5 can be downright absurd. But not for you. Not only can you tell what the date it is at any time, but you have a mind that can organize and understand the convoluted nature of multiple timelines.

Items:

And Your Motorcycle - A 1990 fatboy with black paint with red pinstripe, leather seating, leather side bags, chrome covered piping, and a chrome covered engine. This particular one is strong enough to carry a person weighing upwards of 800lbs and can keep going after falling down over 20ft and not loose any speed. It also comes with an infinite fuel supply.

"You set up a Jump?" I asked.

Miranda moved closer to me, so that she could point to some of the perks she'd chosen for this jump.

"I chose these perks because they'll allow you a much greater understanding of what's going on around you, as well as much more freedom to act" she told me "I saw your files, you had some good ideas for dealing with the Reapers but no real way to bring them about. If you'd had these perks when starting this jump things would have been much simpiler. Plus if you if you are going to build a harem it might not be such a bad idea to have the 'Hey, Wait! You Swore!' perk so that you don't end having to spend a lot of your time trying to stop members of your harem from undermining your efforts when they don't agree with you, or from going off and doing something you don't agree on. At least not a whim, I can't imagine I don't have the willpower to resist if its something that really matters to me, but any leader needs loyal followers".

That sounded like good reasoning. And that perk didn't actually prevent people from pointing out alternate courses of action, or from protesting my choices, it just stopped compainions from acting directly against my wishes.

"Also I did some checking and that Jump can be ended early by preventing Judgement Day" Miss Lawson informed me "Which should be easy enough. Skynet clearly wasn't created with proper shackles, if we set up a tech company we could use Cortana as a blueprint for safe AI. We could just make a new AI and leave it in the extranet, I mean internet, and have it destroy any hostile AI long before it can threaten anyone".

She had really thought this through.

"I assume by 'we' you mean you and me" I said "You want to come along".

Miranda could certaintly be useful to me, and she was sexy, and if I got the promise perk I could control her to an extent.

"I haven't decided yet" she replied "I have a few commitments here, which you might be an assest for handling. Plus there's the whole Reaper issue".

By that 'commitment' part I assumed she meant her sister. I had nothing on Miranda's sister in my files other than she was on Illum. I did have a mention of Henry Lawson and his connection to Cerberus in M3, and if she'd read that no wonder she spent so long planning stuff.

"I'll take some time to make up my mind" Miranda said "I've read your files, so I know we don't have long, but I will give you an answer and if I do join I'll commit to it. I really would like to see some other universes".

She then headed for the door.

"If I do join your harem I'll be in charge of it" she stated while purposly giving me a moment to check out her backside "You'll need someone to help you keep organised, and I know you'll want me in bed".

She right I would want that.

"You should take some time and think about what it would be worth to you to have me along" she then said "I'm sure you can make it worth my while".

And with that she was out the door.


	7. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Grunt

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 7**

 **Grunt.**

 **Mess. Normandy SSV2**

Since the crew had been stuck on the Citadel while the new armour plating was added to the ship I'd been rather spoilt by getting to sleep in a proper bed. I'd never liked the sleeping pods, and it wasn't helping that I was having bad dreams.

Normally dreams were the minds way of sorting though a person's experiences, concerns and doubts. I had lots of concerns. Hence why I was up so early and drinking coffee. Also I had all that Prothean crap in my head, that really didn't help when it came to dreaming. I saw some weird shit during my nightmares.

I was worried about the changes I'd brought about, and how things could get out of control. There was only way I knew to beat the Reapers, and that was for the AI which controlled the Reapers to let Shepard chose to end the cycles.

Even if the Reapers could be beaten in normal warfare, which was highly unlikely, the AI that had created them in first place could just do whatever it did to harvest intelligent life before it had Reapers.

No Shepard had to be on the Crucible when it connected to the Citadel, which meant letting things progress as they did in the game. If things changed too much then I'd be left spending the rest of this jump looking for somewhere to hide.

Miranda had changed things recently, she activated what was called a victory condition, which meant this jump could also end if the Reapers were defeated. I could speed things up in M3 by simply telling people that the Cipher let me know that the Catalyst was the Citadel, and I could point the Alliance at that Cerberus HQ in the Horse head Nebula, but that was about it really.

So again it seemed to be for the best to let events play out while preparing myself for future jumps by looting everything of worth from this galaxy. Which was what I'd been doing for years now.

Yet I couldn't help feeling guilty about not doing more to safeguard the lives of trillions of people. On some level I knew that I was limited in what I could do, and that I could make things worse, but there was still a little voice in the back of my head telling to do more.

"Staff-Lieutenant" a female voice said, filling the air.

I grimaced.

"Don't call me that" I replied.

"I see nothing wrong by referring to you by your rank" EDI said, nonchalantly.

Hearing that made me sigh.

"I haven't been an alliance officer for more than two years" I reminded the AI "Just call me Gothic".

Thankfully she didn't make an issue out of it.

"Very well, Gothic" the AI said "Commander Shepard is requesting your presence in the briefing room. We will soon attempt to recruit the warlord Okeer, and she would like you to join the ground team".

So, we're recruiting Grunt now. Recruiting Okeer was the mission, but he was going to be dead by the time we'd be done killing all the mercs. I might try to change that if not for the fact that Okeer was not a nice man, and Grunt would actually be useful.

"All right," I said, just after finishing my cup of coffee "Tell the Commander I'll be down there soon".

I'd best get ready for the mission.

"Of course," says EDI. "Logging you out."

(Line Break)

 **Shuttle. On Route.**

As the small craft moved through the air I took a chance to once more examine my gear, which I'd already done half a dozen times, but I remembered my training. Back when I'd been instructed to find something to focus on if the ride we were in got a little bump. It was important to stay focused and not to think about things we couldn't effect.

I was wearing my medium Colossus Armor, which was manufactured by Kassa Fabrication, and this wasn't the set I'd started with back on Eden Prime. This was a new model, it had superior kinetic barriers. Plus it was black and red, I liked that colour scheme.

Also I had on my person my Predator Pistol, and a Geth Pulse rifle, I rarely ever used sub-machine guns or shotguns, and I was terrible with a sniper rifle.

Aside from those two weapons I also carried a knife, a few grenades, some extra thermal clips, and my omni-tool. I could have carried more, but it was always a good idea to save a little room for loot.

"Must be nerves. Understandable. Nerves always present before mission. Different individuals react differently to nerves," Doctor Solus was now saying.

He must have noticed that I was taking inventory in order to keep calm.

"We've heard all the crazy stories" Jack suddenly said to me "Are any of them true? Did you really once set off a nuke?".

Indeed we had.

"Virmire" Mordin supplied "Have heard of it, very few casualties considering the mission".

Few, yes. But we'd taken loses that day.

"Yes Jack" I finally said "We once set off a nuke, and in case your wondering stuff like that happens all the time around Shepard".

The commander gave me a look and I decided keep my mouth shut for a while.

(Line Break).

 **Merc Training Grounds. Korlus**

This planet, which I'd forgotten the name of, had landscapes that reminded me of the work of a Volus artist whom I'd also forgotten the name of, which didn't help describe the place, but in truth it wasn't worth remembering. Anyway I had way too much junk in my head to recall everything clearly, in fact if my head was a planet it would look like this place.

"The dossier doesn't say if Okeer is here by choice or not," the Commander said as we piled out of the shuttle "Assume that there are hostiles in the area".

She was right to be concerned.

"There is only one measure of success!" shouted a voice over a loudspeaker "Kill or be killed".

"Broadcasting orders over loudspeaker. Foolish. Indicates lack of organisation," commented Mordin.

Yes it made more sense to issue orders over secure comm channels, but the lady currently ranting over the loudspeakers was not exactly sane if I was any judge.

"Stay focused," said the Commander "Remember we're looking for a krogan warlord so I figure he'll be somewhere in the thick of things".

Already Jack had her shotgun out, and I could see Mordin holding on to a pistol. Garrus was bringing up the rear with his sniper rifle. Zeead was on our flank, while Shepard led he group.

Miranda had been left back on the ship, which pleased me as I wasn't sure how to act her around her, and Jacob was the pilot for this mission so he would be staying on the shuttle.

"Being hired is merely the beginning" crazy lady was now saying "You must earn your place in the mighty army we are building."

"Some kind of observation post ahead," Garrus warned "Blue Suns, and they look ready for a fight".

We'd encountered a lot of Blue Suns recently and now we were about to fight a whole lot more. All in day's work when you travelled with Commander Shepard.

(Line Break)

"He doesn't need to know that," I heard Shepard say.

Mordin had just informed the Spectre that a Blue Sun merc we'd encountered was not as baldy injured as it seemed.

"Oh, I knew it wasn't berserkers" the wounded merc was saying "Not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not telling you anything!"

Even while hanging back I could see Shepard's omni-tool light up as she looked over at the merc.

"I've got a nice application of medi-gel ready to go," she offered "Or if you'd rather I just walk away".

Mordin was a doctor and therefore more qualified to treat injured people, but he was just as likely to shoot the merc.

"Son of a bitch," the guy on the ground was now saying "I just... I don't know anything. I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The old krogan up there... He's really been cleaning house lately. Jedore hired him to make her an army, but the krogan he creates are insane so we all use them for live ammo training".

Somehow, actually hearing it in person made the whole thing a little more scary. We're surrounded by hired killers who were having a war with insane lab grown experiments.

"God damn it, I don't get paid enough to bleed out like this" the merc muttered.

As soon as he finished talking, his comm unit activated.

"Outpost four, Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that krogan pack".

Wasn't this one of those renegade moments, or an intimidate option?

"You heard the man on the radio" Shepard said, her voice suddenly turning quite cold. "He needs directions".

"I don't have the info they want," replied the merc. "You showed up before I could get my normal sightings".

The Spectre sighed.

"Doctor Solus, I don't suppose that you have anything in your medical pack that would persuade him?" Shepard asked.

So we were torturing people now? This had gotten dark real fast.

"Of course. Numerous chemicals" Mordin replied "Some acids, some toxins".

The merc didn't like hearing any of that.

"Patrol, uh... uh... sighting, east of station 2," the Blue Suns guy said into his radio.

"Copy, east of 2," said the voice on the other end.

The merc then turned to face Shepard.

"Bitch, they'll run blind into krogan," he told the commander.

Shepard decided to ignore that.

"Have you seen Okeer?" she asked. "Does he know about all this?"

I mostly spaced out as the conversation continued, but I heard the parts I needed to. Okeer was still in the labs, Jedore hired him to make a krogan army, they all come out insane, she can't control them, it's exactly like in the game.

So far so good.

(Line Break)

Upon seeing us the krogan simply tilted its head to the side. Shepard could see that this crazy lab grown alien meant us no harm, so she signalled for us to stop.

A moment later the krogan came right up to us, and was now standing right in front of Shepard.

"You... are different," it began by saying. "You don't smell like this world. Seven night cycles, and I have only felt the need to kill. But you... Something makes me speak".

Shepard had that effect on people, it was part of what made her a good leader. It was also one of the reasons why I'd never invite her to come with me on future jumps. She'd end up in charge of all of them, and I didn't want to spend the next nine and half decades as a supporting character in my own story. Plus I wasn't very sexually attracted to red headed women,

"Seven night cycles?" asked Garrus

"Means he's a week old" I explained

"He must breed them full size and ready to kill," Shepard figured.

"Bred... to kill..." said the krogan. "No. I kill because my blood and bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother. Survival is what I hear in my head against the enemy that threatens all my kind, but I failed, even before waking. That is what the voice in the water told me. That is why I wait here".

Oddly I understood all of that.

"How can you speak if you're only a week old?" Shepard asked.

"There was a scratching sound in my head," the lab grown Krogon replied. "It became the voice. It taught me the things I would need. Walking, talking, hitting, shooting. Then the voice said I was not perfect. And the teaching stopped. And now I am here".

"Taught everything they need in tank," said Mordin. "Interesting".

"But why breed them in a lab?" Garrus wondered "What's the end goal".

The perfect Krogan.

"Something to ask Okeer" Mordin replied.

If he lived long enough to answer.

"Why were you not deemed perfect?" Shepard wondered.

"I don't know," replied the krogan. "It was decided before I left tank mother. I was not perfect".

He seemed all good to me. He was able to speak rationally. He knew how to use weapons. What was wrong with this krogan?

"If mercenary was correct, krogan prone to mental instability," said Mordin.

He didn't seem crazy at all despite his strange words.

"I do not know of that," the lab grown krogan told us "But I know am not perfect".

"You were made for a mercenary company," Shepard was now saying "Do you remember Jedore?".

For a few moments the krogan just looked at us.

"I know that name," he then went on to say "It made the voice in the water angry sometimes but it also caused laughter. It is not a name that will be sung when we march. I don't know what it means, but I have heard it many times".

It was time to get going.

"Can you show us a way to the labs?" Shepard requested..

The krogan nodded and then cleared a path for us.

"You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way," said the lab-bred krogan.

Shepard turned to him as we started to move out

"You could have run, or tried to fight your way through the labs. Why stay here?" she asked.

"I am waiting," he said "The voice told me. If they come, I will fight. An imperfect krogan doesn't have a purpose, but it is the way things are".

With that we left the strange creature behind.

(Line Break)

 **Lab.** **Korlus**

You didn't often see an asari scientist out here in the Terminus system, and to see the same woman working here on mad science as she had been for Saren had made Shepard want to shoot her, but killing an unarmed civilian was a bit much for her. She hadn't stuck around to get shot, she'd run the hell out of here.

Given what had happened on Virmire I couldn't blame her, and she'd given us a load of data. Mordin could analyse it I was just going to store on data discs inside my warehouse in case I should ever need a load of biological information about the Krogan. I couldn't imagine why I'd ever need that, but data discs didn't take up too much space.

And after all that we found the warlord, a hulking figure of a krogan, who was currently working on some sort terminal

"It's about time," he said impatiently. "The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs".

Getting shot by people with heavy weapons was not my idea of fun. The only upside to things was that Shepard badly wanted a Geth pulse rifle of her own after seeing mine in action. Seeing her envy filled gaze as she lusted over my weapon had been oddly satisfying. I'd have to recover a pulse rifle for her when we went to save Tali, assuming she needed saving. I warned her about the Geth so hopefully she'd take a lot more marines with her to that system with the dying sun.

"I take it you're Okeer," Shepard was now saying "You don't seem particularly caged or grateful that I'm here."

The krogan looked at his monitor for a brief second before turning to face the commander.

"You may claim to be here to help, but the formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change," he said.

This Krogan actually seemed old. Wrex was old, but he didn't look it, this guy did. I wondered if he was sick. That would explain why a warlord was suddenly trying to secure a legacy.

"If this is about my actions on Virmire, I did what I had to," replied Shepard.

Okeer turned to fully face us.

"Saren, the Spectre traitor, threatens the return of the krogan horde by curing the genophage, undoing the gentle genocide of the turians and salarians" the warlord said, as if was promoting an action movie "But, before Saren can deliver his endless troops, in rides Shepard, securing victory with nuclear fire!".

Shepard seemed unbothered by the reminder.

"I didn't have a lot of room for finesse," she stated "If there were any other option, I would've considered it".

Not that it had actually been her plan. People seemed to forget that we'd teamed up with a group of salarian special forces, and they'd been the ones to build the nuke.

"But I approve" The krogan replied as he gestured with his arms. "Saren's horde were not true krogan. They were the mistakes of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made"

Okeer then walked over to the window, and drew our attention to the many tanks out there. There were a lot of tanks out there, some tech as well I that I didn't recognise, and if they could grow adults in any reasonable amount of time then yeah you could make an army with what was out there. I had to at least get a decent scan of some of those tanks. Just in case I ever wanted to grow my super soldiers.

"I gave their leader my rejects for her army" the old krogan was now saying "But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here".

Shepard didn't leap into action.

"We're here about the Collectors" she said.

The scientist krogan turns back to us, and he had a strange kind of glint in his eyes.

"Yes, Collector attacks have increased. A human concern. My requests were focused elsewhere" he said "I wished to make a perfect krogan. From the Collectors I acquired the knowledge to create one pure soldier. With that, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer: to be ignored".

Shepard then enquired about the rejects.

"My rejects are exactly what Jedore asked for" the krogon told her "She simply lacks the ability to command. They are strong, healthy, and useless to me. I look for perfection. If a few thousand are rejected, so be it".

"Experiments quite unethical," stated Mordin. "Also possible cruel fate for the failures".

The failures seemed to having fun when they were shooting at us.

"That is your opinion," replied the warlord. "But I will restore the krogan. My soldier will not provoke an armed response, as a cure or a horde would. My legacy is simple perfection".

Shepard got us back on topic.

"So you don't want a horde, and you don't want to cure the genophage," said our commander "Fair enough, Now what about the Collectors?".

Should I tell her at least some of what I knew about the Prothean husks? Liara and I had agreed to limit information, but some part of me still thought it was wrong to hide everything. I figured that his was an issue I'd have to deal with many times as I jumped around the multiverse.

"They are strange creatures" Okeer old Shepard "I gave them a few hundred slaves and some of my Krogon in exchange for their tech".

I'd heard that the Collectors were taking members of other races too, they mostly wanted humans, but were taking strong and healthy examples of other races too. My guess is that they were making prototype versions of the husk that would be used in ME3.

"The tech was consumed in the prototype, however. I cannot tell you more as much as I would like to" the krogon admitted.

Okeer then looked out of the window.

"Perhaps I can strike a deal to secure passage," he then said. "But my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy".

My eyes look over to Grunt as he lays suspended in the tank. and I could well imagine this guy running around the battlefield with a shotgun in the near future shouting "I AM KROGAN".

"Attention, I have traced the krogan release," Jedore was now saying over the loudspeakers "Okeer, of course. I'm calling a blank slate on this project. Gas the old fucker, and start from scratch with his data. Oh and flush the tanks!

And now the vents in the room are starting to leak some kind of gas. Oh joy. I'm so glad that I'm wearing my helmet, which has filters for just this sort of thing.

"She's that weak willed," Okeer said, disdain apparent in his voice. "She'll kill my legacy with a fucking valve. Shepard, you want information on the Collectors. Stop them. Jedore will be with the rejected tanks. Kill her. I will stay, and do what must be done."

I looked over to Jack, who smiled wickedly as she prepared her shotgun, even as I took out my geth pulse rifle. Garrus did the same with his sniper rifle, and Shepard and Mordin also both draw weapons. We then all nodded to each other, and headed for what passed for a boss fight in this level of the game.

(Line Break)

"Originally, he was working on a cure for his people's genetic sterilisation. But he seemed to get it in his head that his people needed to be stronger" I reported as I looked over the data.

Perhaps Okeer had been preparing for the Reaper invasion, but I didn't see how how a stronger krogan warrior would help deal with massive AI space ships.

"Genophage ensures only one in every thousand pregnancies is viable, stillbirths are far more common. Perfect target; quite difficult to reach, let alone maintain." Mordin said

I had to struggle not to yell upon hearing that.

"The problem with that, however, is that not every child born in a harsh society like that of the krogon will grow up to have children of their own" I said "Plus then there's the heartache of having a stillborn child. I wonder how many female Krogan try to have more children after losing the first?"

Shepard then changed the subject.

"So is this Krogan of Okeer's immune to the genophage?" Shepard asked.

I read some more from the terminal.

"Okeer gradually became obsessed with his work and realised that surviving the genophage had become the only benchmark for a good krogan, which he believes was weakening the species as a whole" I told the commander "So he decided to produce a genetically pure, superior krogan, super soldier, who for some reason has the genophage. That makes no sense, why create a superior krogan and then make it harder for him to have offspring?".

It got better from there.

"According to the logs Okeer took the DNA of some of the most-powerful and most-infamous Krogan warlords in galactic history and then mixed 'em up to create our little guy here in the tank" I was now saying "This guy is basically the living embodiment of everything that makes the Krogan feared across the galaxy".

Pretty cool actually.

"I could definitely use something like that" Shepard mused.

Mordin was unsure.

"Dangerous mix of genetics" said the science guy "Could cause instability. Could be dangerous".

Oh he was down right lethal.

"No 'could be' about it, Doc, I'm hoping that's exactly what this guy will be" the commander replied "He'll be dangerous, lethal, and maybe just maybe, he'll be something that the Collectors will never see coming".

That was when Shepard giggled in a very girly way. It was unsettling.

(Line Break)

 **Cerberus Base. Unknown Location.**

The Illusive Man sat looking at a vid monitor as he read over the report that Miranda Lawson had just provide for him.

"It's unfortunate that Shepard was unable to secure the warlord's aid" the head of Cerberus said "But perhaps it was for the best if he really didn't know much about the Collectors".

Miranda had sent copies of the gathered data to the Illusive Man, some of which might prove useful to a few of Cerberus's projects. Being able to create tank grown soldiers who were ready to fight as soon they were 'born' could be very handy.

"Doctor Solus is currently working hard" the genetically-enhanced woman reported. "He told me that he might be close to a breakthrough on a means of dealing with the Collector's Seeker Swarms, but he needs a few more days before he can begin work on a prototype to the needed armour modifications".

This pleased the Illusive Man.

"Excellent. As always, Miranda, your ability to manage our available resources astounds me" he praised.

"I have to give credit where it's due, though," Lawson replied "Shepard's proving to be every bit as formidable as you thought she'd be. Okeer's test subject, who calls himself Grunt for some reason, even listens to her. I'd be happier if he wasn't so obviously a ticking time bomb but Shepard seems to be able to handle him".

The leader of Cerberus was not surprised to hear this. People like Joan Shepard were few and far between, but when they were found and put into the right positions they could change the fates of nations.

"The commander is a valuable resource, one whose potential still remains largely untapped," the Illusive Man said to Miranda "Now is there anything else you want to discuss.

Miss Lawson paused for a moment, as if considering something.

"Nothing that comes to mind" she the said "I'll keep you informed".

The Illusive Man cut the feed as he was joined by a man of Asian descent. His name was Kai Leng and, as far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned, he was dead.

Kai Leng had once been part of a tradition that had produced fine heroic figures like David Anderson and, of course, the infamous but mostly still well-regarded Joan Shepard.

In the eyes of the Illusive Man, Kai Leng was just as good as Shepard or Anderson. Better perhaps since he didn't have pesky morals getting in his way.

Before he'd been dishonourably discharged and imprisoned for an unsanctioned murder, Leng's history hinted at the fine soldier that he might have become one day if not for the fact that he was pretty much a monster in human form.

The Illusive Man had found Leng some time ago, and did what he was very good at doing; finding those with talent and forging them into weapons that could be used to further his goals.

"You wanted to see me?" Kai Leng asked.

Instead of directly answering the obvious question, instead the leader of Cerberus brought up another monitor. All would soon be explained.

"Did you get the data package?" the Illusive Man asked.

"Of course, sir," the researcher on the other end of the call replied "Thanks to the information you provided we can begin Project Phantom. But it could still be years before...".

The Illusive Man cut in.

"It won't take years, the data I sent you is just the start" the leader of Cerberus said "Mr Leng here will soon be going to Korlus to gather samples of the technology used by a Krogan warlord to grow a Krogan super solider. My hope is that you'll able to use that tech to greatly speed up Project Phantom and you can share your results with Project Nemesis".

The Illusive Man knew that humanity was going to need its own army of super humans if the Reapers were to be defeated, and human domination of the galaxy was to be ensured.

"See if you can find a way use the data and the tech I'll have sent to you along with what we learned from Project Lazarus in order to make at least some of your combat upgrades standard for all our troops. If possible I want all our people enhanced" the Illusive Man was now saying "We'll grow our own troops if needs be".

The Illusive Man then disconnected the link.

"You want to create an army of Shepards?" Leng said with a scoff. "You can barely control the one that you have right now".

The Illusive Man lit up before replying.

"Miranda Lawson had a particularly useful suggestion" the leader of Cerberus told his henchmen "It wouldn't have work for Shepard of course. Had I allowed Lawson to implant Shepard, she and her friends would have spent their time trying to undermine our control. I need Shepard focused on fighting the Collectors and the Reapers not on obtaining freedom"

Kai Leng nodded in agreement. Shepard was effective he had to admit that, and of course he didn't want anyone getting the idea of implanting methods of control into his body.

"Lawson's helpful suggestion was a good one and it will prove very useful for our new crop of recruits" the Illusive Man "We have our Shepard clones with the added biotic abilities for the Project Phantom, we can use of them as a testbed if needs be".

The Illusive Man then turned in his seat so he could face Leng.

"For now retrace the real Shepard's steps, take a full and go to Korlus recover Okeer's tech if any is left and kill any of the Blue Suns you find there" the leader of Cerberus ordered "I want it so that no one else will ever know what happened there. Then take all the recovered tech to Project Phantom".

Leng gave his boss a slight bow and then headed for the door.

(Line Break)

 **Mess. SSV Normandy.**

"Oh," I said, while smiling "I see you woke the krogon up".

It was kind of hard to miss the guy. He was huge.

"Another part of the krantt?" asked Grunt.

A krogan undergoing the Rite of Passage was given the right to bring a krantt along not only as back-up, but as proof that they were a true warrior who was worthy of joining others. But a krantt wasn't just an ally or another name for warband. It was a close knit group who went into battle together, who defend each others honour and lives. We were most certainly a krantt when under Shepard's command.

"He's named Grunt" the commander told me "I don't know why he chose that name".

I did and sometimes I liked knowing things other people didn't.

"It has no meaning," Grunt said "I like it."

That made me laugh.

"Actually 'Grunt' can mean a few things" I corrected "Its a noise people make sometimes, or it can refer to a foot solider...".

The vat grown Krogan didn't let me finish.

"I come up here to get food not to have a fleshy thing question my name" Grunt complained.

As subtly as I could I prepared to use my biotics. Just in case I needed to make my place in the pecking order clear.

"He's part of the krantt whether you like it or not, Grunt," Shepard said.

If that was all she could say in my defence then I was disappointed in the commander.

"This one seems weak. If he doesn't fight well I'll have to kill him" Grunt stated.

Oh yeah we were going to be the best of friends.


	8. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Liara

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 8**

 **Liara.**

 **Cockpit. SSV Normandy.**

"Nos Astra Docking Command, this is Normandy SR2 on final approach," Joker announced "We can transmit docking clearance if you need it".

I didn't come up to the cockpit very often as I spent most of my time at the bottom of the ship getting on with my job. But for once I was up here, and I was looking over the readouts as the ship got closer to the planet. There were massive power readings on that world, and a whole load of signal traffic. Proof of existence of the massive civilisation that we were about to visit.

"That won't be necessary, Normandy," a pleasant female voice replied. "Your arrival was expected. One of our port officials will meet with you at the docking cradle. Welcome to Nos Astra, Normandy, we hope that you enjoy your stay".

Wow a warm welcome. I'd forgotten what that could be like.

"Okay that was nice. " the brittle-boned pilot remarked "Weird, but nice".

The cockpit was surprisingly packed for this particular arrival. Miranda and I had joined Shepard up here in the cockpit, and even Jack had been lured up from her hidey-hole in the engineering sub-deck. She was hanging out near the airlock. Jacob Taylor and Miss Goto spent a lot of time together so I assumed they'd amuse each other during our stay on this planet.

"It will be nice to see Liara again" I said.

Although I assumed Shepard wanted to see her for different reasons that I did.

"Liara's here?" Shepard asked me "On Illium? As an information broker?. The Illusive Man mentioned something about that, but he didn't have many details".

Miranda spoke before I could.

"She's become one of the best information dealers around. I'm surprised you haven't heard about her. Or from her" the Cerberus operative said.

Shepard made eye contact with me, and I knew she wanted to hear more.

"She's been a little busy, but I've been keeping her up to date" I told the Commander "I spoke to her just before you arrived on Omega, and let her known that we're popping in for a visit".

This seemed to please the Spectre.

"Alright people" said Shepard "We've got an assassin and a justicar to find. Joker bring us in to dock".

(Line Break)

Nos Astra. Illium.

"You have to hand it to the Asari; Illium's a cultural marvel," Miranda said as her gaze sweeping across the many mile-high buildings that made up the city "We could learn a lot from them".

As if to perfect the picture, the setting sun cast a soft orange glow over the cityscape, and the many glass and steel towers caused the low light to be reflected almost everywhere giving a great view of the city.

"Bunch of soft-asses with too many creds" Jack commented disdainfully.

Illium was what the people of this galaxy called a garden world, meaning that it was habitable for oxygen breathing species without the need for terraforming.

The civilisation here had been developed to serve as an entrepot between the Terminus Systems and the Asari Republics. Much like how on Earth the city of Hong Kong had served as an entrepot for trade between eastern and western nations.

To aid in this this trade, the normally stringent customs laws of Council space, that covered product safety, proscribed materials, and sapient trafficking were much relaxed.

Officially Illium was not even an asari world; it had been colonised and was operated by asari corporate interests. This gave it the same legal latitude enjoyed by the corporate research enclaves on Noveria.

Due the lax laws Illium was a preferred production site for weapons and pharmaceuticals that would normally be illegal nearly anywhere outside the Terminus System, and these businesses were made even more lucrative by legal indentured servitude, which was basically a fancy term for slavery.

Despite the dangers of its products, and the risks of becoming a slave, Illium was renowned for glamour, luxury, and safety (at least in certain parts) making it a favoured tourist destination. Countless celebrities maintained palatial estates here on Illium, mostly here in its capital, Nos Astra.

Compared to humanity's home this world was hot and massive; as such ground settlements were only possible at the higher polar latitudes. In more equatorial locations, the population was housed in arcology skyscrapers to escape the heat of the surface.

"I've been here before," I said to the group "Illium is just like Omega, only with makeup and a sexier outfit, but walk down the wrong ally and your just as likely to get mugged, or killed".

Shepard took my warning to heart.

"Stay alert everyone and keep your weapons close" the commander said "I'm going to meet Liara and see if she can get us a meeting with our assassin. We should be okay with supplies from stocking up at the Citadel, but double check would you Miss Lawson".

I might do a little shopping myself.

"Commander I do have a personal matter that I have to check on," Miranda informed Shepard.

Having seen my files she knew that her sister was in danger, so she was mostly likely going to rearrange her sister's family movement plans. Hopefully this would mean we could avoid battling mercs.

"Fine; I trust that you'll take care of ship's business first before you go on your personal errand" Shepard replied "See if we can't arrange a little shore leave for the rest of the crew. I noticed that not many of our people left the ship when we were at the Citadel".

Given that they were Cerberus that had been for the best.

"Understood, Commander" Miranda.

Shepard had more orders.

"Oh and tell Jacob and Goto to go get Grunt kitted up, whatever he needs. " Shepard went on to say "Garry's is over seeing the installing of our new main gun so Gothic, you're with me. Keep an eye on Jack".

Oh fuck that.

"Fuck that, I don't need no damn babysitter," the biotic anarchist stated.

Amen to that.

"Jack, you're coming with," Shepard said, while glaring at the crazy bitch "You've been squatting down in that hole in engineering for a while now. Stretch your legs, see the sights, whatever you need to do to get some air, you might as well consider that an order".

Alas for Subject Zero the Commander was even more of nut job that she was, and so she wisely decided not to pick a fight.

"What I am suppose to do while hangin' with your lapdog?" Jack asked.

I had a few ideas.

"We could get something to eat, you can spend some of my money" I suggested "Find a bar?".

Shepard sighed.

"Just try not to get arrested, and I'll be happy" she said.

By now we'd made our way to the Nos Astra Trading Floor, which was a stock exchange here in capital city of the Asari colony. And bloody hell it was a lot larger and more packed than in the game. I saw members of every race who'd ever set foot on the Citadel. Volus, elchor, drell, hanar, humans, turians, batarians, even a few quarians despite the fact that the Migrant Fleet wasn't allowed near this system. No vorcha to be seen, but I did spot a couple of krogans.

Yet for this species interaction there was nothing understated or subtle about the influence of the Asari Matriarchy. Asari-controlled media insured that stories flattering the Matriarchs dominated the news cycles. Also I didn't have to look far to see the Asari aesthetic in every nook and cranny.

In my mind, Illium's biggest problem was that everything looked pretty enough to get you sidetracked by the superficial fairly quickly. That meant that one tended to lose track of the important stuff; like the slavery, the drug use, and the massive gambling debts people no doubt got when visiting the casinos.

"Shepard? Holy crap! T'Soni thought you'd show up" Gianna Parasini said by way of greeting "but, wow its really you!".

"Gianna? Gianna Parasini?" Shepard said while greeting the Noveria Internal Affairs Agent with a warm handshake.

When had these two become friends? Maybe they'd been hanging out and getting all chummy while Garrus, Wrex and I had been doing all the heavy lifting.

"Welcome to Nos Astra Spaceport, Commander Shepard," Gianna said cheerfully. "Illium hopes that your stay here will be pleasurable and profitable. I'm required to say that to ever visitor I meet".

She was wearing a form-fitting casual business suit; revealing, yet efficient, and just the sort of thing that you'd need to blend in order to the crowd on a planet filled with Asari.

"Still working your old job?" Shepard asked, trying to be subtle.

As a corporate Internal Affairs investigator, Parasini's job had been to look into corporate corruption. Her investigations kept Noveria from being mired too much in the kind of scandals that might keep businesses away from the remote colony and its famously-flexible corporate ethics.

"Who's this bitch?" Jack asked me.

"Gianna helped us out of a jam a couple of year back" I explained. "In return, we helped her catch one of Noveria's biggest crooks".

Well I'd played a part. Mostly it had involved Garrus, Wrex and I shooting up some offices and some corrupt cops.

"And how is Administrator Anoleis?" Shepard asked "Did you get those charges to stick?".

I really hope so after the trouble we'd gone through, and all of it just to get a garage pass.

"The now former Administrator is trying to get out of prison," Gianna informed us with a laugh "But his lawyers are milking things in order to keep him paying, not that he should mind. Anoleis managed to get himself a reduced sentence in a low security prison by ratting out a lot of other corrupt idiots. I assume he's been spending his time improving his tennis game".

I wouldn't be surprised.

"Typical," Jack said with a snort "That ass hole probably screwed over more people in a day then I ever could in my whole life, and he gets hotel stay and a slap the wrist while I end up in goddamn Purgatory".

Parasini's eyes narrowed.

"Purgatory's a Hellhole, or at least it was until it blew up, and the only people who end up there are some of the worst scum in the galaxy. Is there something I should know about your crew member, Shepard?".

To be fair Cortana, my AI, had rigged the prison ship's reactor to blow. That hadn't been mine or Jack's fault.

"She's part of a team I'm putting together" Shepard explained "I've asked Jack to be on her best behaviour, and she will be, isn't that right Jack?"

The biotic anarchist scowled.

"I kill stuff; that's what you pay me for. Getting all chummy with people will cost you extra" she replied.

Really? How much?

"Jack has a unique skill set," Shepard was now saying "The kind of skills I'll need if I'm going to take down the Collectors".

Saying that gave the commander a chance to change the subject.

"You hear about Freedom's Progress and Ferris Fields yet?" Shepard asked.

Gianna nodded.

"I heard about humans going missing without any evidence of what happened" she replied, "Or at least that was what they were saying on the news before Emily Wong started showing everyone some footage of an unknown alien space ship. You say it was the Collectors, huh? That's gonna make people nervous".

I was surprised that news of the Collectors was more well known. Liara had given Wong more than enough to led her to the truth. The Citadel must be doing a cover up.

"So why are you our welcoming committee?" Shepard asked.

"Doctor T'Soni left instructions that you and the Normandy crew were to feel free to take advantage of Illium's hospitality. You've got a tab set up at the Eternity Lounge, and the stores here have been instructed to grant you and your the crew a nice discount for goods and services purchased during your stay"

Shepard was more surprised than I was. Mostly because I was aware of how much influence Liara had here.

"What's up with Liara?" Shepard asked "How did she swing all of this".

"Your old girlfriend's gotten very powerful and she's earned the kind of enemies that usually go with that kind of power" Gianina replied "One enemy who matters more than most".

"The Shadow Broker?" Shepard wondered.

Gianna nodded.

"He's already tried to get her a few times, even here on Illium at least one" the human woman told us "I doubt that he's going to stop. And the asari government even has people keeping an eye on your old flame".

Again Shepard was surprised.

"The Matriarchs," Shepard said "You're saying that the Asari Matriarchs have an issue with Liara?"

Gianna looked worried.

"She's always caught up with her war with the Broker, everybody knows this. But, lately, she's been getting the kind of attention that's just not healthy" she told us.

Hence why her father/other mother was here at a bar, the Matriarchs were having Liara watched. I was pretty sure that they had people watching Shepard as well. Also I was certain that they would like a few words with me. There were reasons why I'd spent the last two years on the frontier, and it wasn't just because of Cerberus. Now that I was back in more civilised space I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to seduce the Cipher out of me.

"How'd you get involved, anyway?" Shepard was now asking "Illium seems a tad out of your jurisdiction."

Jack, having no idea what Shepard was talking about, had gone off to admire the view, so I spent a moment admiring her ass. She was wearing denim today, she looked good.

"I was looking into some business here," Parasini was saying to the Commander "Liara was a great contact, and after wrapping up my latest investigation, she offered me a job. Lucky for me, Illium Security doesn't mind having a trained rat-squad agent with a good track record hanging around".

Damn Jack had a nice ass, but I stopped staring, and tried to pay attention to the conversation Shepard was having.

"I've heard about that, actually," the corporate investigator was now saying "A Justicar here of all places, that's gonna stir up trouble".

At this point I felt as if I'd skipped a page in a book. How long had I been checking out Subject Zero's ass? I really needed a girlfriend with a nice ass who'd let me do more than look.

"I hear they can be pretty dangerous" Shepard replied.

"A Justicar is the embodiment of the rules any law abiding Asari follows without question. They've all sworn an oath to seek out and battle corruption in any form and corruption can be easy to find on Illium, maybe a little too easy. You bring a Justicar to a place like this and I can guarantee you that about the population is going to spending a lot of time at home, behind locked doors".

Shepard was listening intently.

"The doctor might know where she is, but I sure don't" the undercover cop admitted.

"I'm also looking for a Thane Krios" the commander said "Can you be of any help with him?".

Gianna nodded,

"Now that I can help you with. You might want to start with an old friend of yours, Nassana Dantius" she advised.

Oh right she was the asari who'd asked Shepard to save her sister from pirates, only as it turned out she was a pirate. By the time we'd gotten back to the Citadel, Nassana had vanished. Which had annoyed the commander greatly.

"Last I recall she was a diplomat on the Citadel" Joan said.

"Not anymore. She gave up politics and went into business" Joan was told "And she's not a nice boss from what I hear. Doesn't treat her people very well. Wouldn't surprise if they all chipped in and hired an assassin to kill her".

Nassana Dantius hadn't exactly been the poster girl for ethical behaviour back when she'd been a diplomat on the Citadel..

"Now she's in private business;" Gianna reported "As a corporate CEO she can hire freelance killers and no one bats an eye, but she couldn't hide her secrets from Liara, and I know she's the one who actually hired Thane Krios, even if she isn't actually paying him".

Shepard gasped in disbelief.

"Liara is hiring killers?" the commander was now saying "I can't believe it. Why?".

I could only assume that Nassana Dantius had done something to upset Doctor T'Soni. I wasn't that involved in Liara's war with the Shadow Broker, since I wanted to avoid his attention, as such I didn't know about all she got up to.

"Honestly, Shepard, I don't know the details," Parasini said with a shrug. "But if the order to bring in Krios came from Liara. If so, then Nassana's a very, very bad person. Worse then I imagined".

Well as messed up as the blue babe had become, she'd hadn't quite gotten to the point were she would harm the innocent. I knew that because I'd done jobs for her, and she'd never asked me to do anything that endangered normal people.

"I want to see Liara" Shepard insisted.

Gianna started to led us towards Liara's office.

"Nassana's old security chief is an asari named Seryna. She was seen talking to a Drell matching Krios' description only a few days ago" Gianna was now saying "I'd start there".

"Hold on, days?" said Shepard "What's he waiting for?".

A good question.

"Nassana's been fortifying her corporate headquarters," Parasini told Shepard "She's had workers pulling double shifts just to finish the work and she's still not done, and Illium's Trade Board just authorised a mass contract termination. Which means Dantius' entire work force have been let go, except for her security staff; almost all of them are Eclipse mercs. Word is that Jona Sederis gave Dantius almost a third of her entire Illium contingent as part of the security contract".

Jona Sederis was the founder of Eclipse, which was 'an incorporated security company' on paper, but in fact it was one of the galaxies largest merc groups. Its creation had been heavily influenced by asari and salarian military doctrine, so this meant that Eclipse specialised in sabotage, assassination, as well as personal and organisational security. Although Citadel governments regard the corporation with suspicion, it was openly embraced by some organisations within the Skyllian Verge and within the Terminus Systems. Despite numerous reports, Eclipse denied crimes such as sabotage and kidnapping the families of business rivals.

"He deliberately waited until the civilians would no longer be in the line of fire," Shepard deduced "But he's risking trying to get to his target when she's a more secure location, interesting".

Yeah Thane Krios, the assassin with the heart of gold. I was looking forward to meeting him.

"Oh, there'll still be civilians in the building," Gianna told us "They just won't want to be there in a few hours".

"What's that mean?" the commander wondered

Now she was frowning.

"Illium rules," the agent explained. "Workers have to stay to the end of their contract to receive payment. But once a contract termination's been filed with the Trade Board, any fired employees found on-site are considered to be a breach of security".

"So they're considered trespassing, if they hang around after being fired?" Shepard asked.

Gianna nodded.

"At which point, an employer's well within their rights to terminate with extreme prejudice" she answered.

And I'd thought 21st century supermarkets could have unfair hiring practics.

"So we have to get into Dantius Towers, fight our way past a load of Eclipse mercs, who all have orders to shoot on sight and, if we're very lucky, fight our way to Dantius before she gets blown away by the galaxy's best assassin. That about sum it up?" Shepard said.

Gianna nodded.

"Is now a good time to enquire about hazard pay?" I asked the commander.

(Line Break)

 **Nos Astra. Illium.**

"I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive. With my mind".

Once the call was done Liara seemed to notice our presence in the room.

"Gothic! Shepard!" she shouted out.

Suddenly she sounded a lot more innocent. But that didn't last as she and Shepard started making out. Which was awkward for me. Jack just found it funny.

"It's great to see you two again," the blue babe said as she moved to sit behind her desk "Especially you, Shepard"

The two of us, Jack had decided to hang back, walked over to her desk.

"So you're threatening to flay people alive now?" Shepard asked.

Yeah that had been scarier in person.

"Oh, that," she replied, acting casual. "That was just a customer who was unhappy with the information he received. He'll pay. They always do. In the end".

By now the three of us were sitting.

"Ever since I helped you stop Saren, a lot of people wanted to be my friend. Or at least not be my enemy. I've set up a respectable business as an information broker. It's paid the bills since..."

She didn't need to finish. We knew what she meant. Even me finding a live prothean hadn't been enough to distract Liara from going down this dark road.

"And now, you're back, and gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus" Liara added.

Shepard leaned back in her seat.

"I'm surprised you're not too broken up about that," she commented. "I imagined you'd be pretty angry".

Given some of the shit we'd seen when taking on a Cerberus cell two years ago it was understandable.

"They brought you back, Shepard" was Liara's reply "I might not agree with Cerberus, but I know they'd never try to actively control you".

The Illusive Man was too smart for that.

"We could use your help, Liara," Shepard was now saying "It's a hell of a dangerous mission we're on".

Liara frowned.

"I'd like to," she replied. "But I can't. I have commitments. Things I need to take care of"

Shepard now seemed concerned.

"We could help with that," she then offered "What do you need?"

Liara suddenly stood up and walked away, and soon she was looking out onto the bustling Illium trading floor. I was suddenly struck with the realisation that I had no idea what life had been like for over the last two years despite all the times we'd talked. As her friend I should have paid more attention to her.

"It's been a long two years, Shepard," Liara said "I have had to do many things. I have a few debts that need to be re-payed"

She was now walking back to her desk.

"If you wish to help me, I need someone with reasonably good hacking skills, someone I can trust".

That would be me.

"What do you need?" I asked.

Liara was the only person who knew about Cortana. I'd not told Tali for very valid reasons. Which didn't mean she didn't know, she'd seen my files, but we'd never talked about it. Come to think of it she might also know about Legion. At some point we would have to discuss these things, they couldn't be ignored forever.

"If you could turn off security at several key points in Illium, you could help me get information that I need," said the former archaeologist. "That'll help me a great deal".

I got up, figuring that I should leave the commander and the blue babe to talk.

"Go find that Seryna while you're out there" Shepard ordered.

Oh lord Jack is right. I am her lapdog.

"Tell her I sent you" Liara advised "She won't refuse you anything if you drop my name".

(Line Break)

 **Nos Astra. Illium.**

"Seryna?" I asked.

I was pretty sure that this was the right asari. Her desk did have her name on it.

"Who wants to know?" she asked back.

I decided not to give her my name.

"Liara T'Soni told me you might know something about Thane Krios" I said.

Her eyes betrayed the briefest hint of worry. Did she know who I was, and who I worked for? She might do if she knew Liara. Or was it Liara who concerned her. Mostly likely the later.

"Tana," she was now saying to a co-worker "Cover for me"

A moment later Jack and I followed behind her as she walked to the balcony a short distance away. From here I got a rather good view of the Nos Astra skyline. Bloody impressive.

"Yes, I know who Thane Krios is," Seryna admitted "I might have passed him some information onto him, but I didn't hire him".

I knew that.

"Listen I used to work for Nassana Dantius," Seryna was now saying "Then, I found out she was having people killed to protect her dirty secrets".

Yeah like her own sister.

"She fired me when I confronted her. Her loss. I might have been good enough to stop Thane from taking her down" Seryna then said "Now I'm cheering him on".

Somehow I doubted she'd have been able to stop the assassin.

"Since you worked there, I'm sure you have some idea of what he's running into" I was now saying

"Eclipse mercs," said Seryna "I told Thane about then, he wasn't deterred".

I shrugged. I wouldn't worry too much about mercs either. I'd killed hundreds of them over the last few years, either directly or while supporting others, and a few times that had kept me up at night, but they were hired killers who would have murdered innocents for credits so I didn't feel bad.

"My boss wants to hire Thane so its actually in our best interest for him to complete this job as quickly as possible" I told Seryna "So where is he?".

As if I didn't know, but I had go through the motions. Things were still on track despite all the little changes.

"Well then you'll want to go to The Dantius Towers," Seryna advised. "To be precise the Penthouse level of tower one."

She then pointed at the two towers in the Nos Astra skyline, and I suddenly realised how tall the things were, and one of them wasn't even finished.

"Those are some tall towers" I muttered.

More words were exchanged and before long I made arrangements for us to be transported to the two towers this very night.

(Line Break)

 **Nos Astra. Illium.**

"Mister Gothic, do you know what you need?" asked a random advert "You've been out in the galaxy as a [job unknown] Why not let me and my friends help you relax at the Hotel Azure? We'll save a seat at the bar for you".

Jack sniggered.

"Ha, they advertise the brothels here" she said "And I guess you can afford it".

I could. I was in fact rather wealthy thanks to my adventures over the last couple of years. But I had no desire to go even a fancy whore house. Plus with Shepard around I was certain that my drawback would be in full effort, and that the Hotel Azure would turn out to be the front of a slaver operation, or something like that.

"How much are you worth?" Subject Zero asked.

I didn't actually know since I'd never had the contents of my Cosmic Warehouse price checked.

"Jack, do me a favour and go bother that shopkeeper over there" I requested.

She gave me an odd look.

"Why?" she then wanted to know.

Shepard had sent me out to hack terminals while she spent some time reconnecting with her girlfriend, and by that I assumed she was actually have hot lesbian sex while I got stuck doing the stupid fetch quest.

"Because while she's distracted, I can hack her terminal and upload the data stream to Liara's database" I replied

Jack huffed in annoyance and stomped away, and then she immediately took her frustrations, of which she seemed to have an endless supply of, out on the hapless shopkeeper by hurling foulmouthed abuse at the poor asari woman. Having worked in retail I knew how horrible that was and decided that I'd find away to make amends later.

I waited until Jack had grabbed the attention of everyone within hearing range before I got on with the now familiar task of hacking into Nos Astra's Central Database through its local extranet servers. Liara was looking for; information about some Shadow Broker agent that she knew only as the Observer. I didn't know who this was because Liara had Gianna Parasini of all people as her only employee here at the trading office.

Cortana needed only seconds to get me to the data so I was able to call Jack off before too long.

"Liara, I just finished getting the last data-packet" I reported.

She didn't seem to care about that.

"I would've sent Krios to you, and found the Justicar as well. There was no need to bring her here" the doctor complained "Why did she have to come here?".

This was a little off topic.

"At this rate she's going to find out about every I've had to in order to beat the Shadow Broker" Liara was now saying.

I really felt as if today I was spending too much time skipping pages in a book. It took me a while to figure things out, but I sussed that now Shepard was actual back in T'soni's life that the asari doctor wasn't happy. Perhaps because Liara had changed so much.

She wasn't the naive young woman who loved history who Shepard had found in a Prothean ruin. Now she was a lot like her mother, who Shepard had killed for being an evil bitch. Yeah I was starting to see the issue here. Perhaps Liara and I should have made other arraignments.

"Look if you don't want the commander asking to many questions try to act like the fresh you thing you were when you met" I advised "Failing that, get naked and have sex, it would work on me".

Liara made a noise, and I wasn't quite sure what it meant.

"This isn't the time to discuss me joining your harem" she said "I told you I'd make up my mind after the Crucible is used".

That hadn't been were I was going.

"Anyway I'm not even sure how Shepard feels about me, it has been two years" Liara was now saying "I suppose for her its only been weeks".

Which was also an issue. Liara wasn't in love with Joan anymore, not like she had been a least, she'd not exactly moved on, but she really wasn't the same person anymore.

"You need to get her away from me" T'soni insisted "Find her someone new, someone better than me. I can better protect her from a distance".

I sighed.

"Since when could I make Shepard do anything" I replied "Besides she's a grown woman, she doesn't need you protect her. She needs your help taking on the Collectors. So stop playing these stupid games with the Broker and come join us on the Normandy".

That would hopefully resolve matters. But then again maybe not. Liara knew, just as I did, that it was highly unlikely that the Commander would live to see a galaxy free of the Reapers, assuming any of us did.

"Protecting Shepard is not a game, Gothic" Liara almost snarled at me "Avenging Feron is not a game".

There was a pause.

"I guess talking a break and spending time with Joan wouldn't be such a bad idea" Liara was now saying "Goddess knows I need some time away from my desk".

For a moment I wondered where Shepard was now. Hopefully Liara hadn't let the commander wander off by herself.

"Good" I said "You and Shepard got play with your azures, assuming humans have one of those".

I was pretty sure it was an asari word for vagina, or something like that. Otherwise call a brothel Hotel Azure.

"Yes humans have those too" Liara said with a sigh "Well the female half of you".

With that she hung up.

"Great" I muttered.

I was on a planet with millions of sexy blue babes I couldn't even risk visiting a brothel, not that I would.

"Are you eyeing me up, Goth?" Jack asked, sounding suspicious

I had been checking out her ass again. I'd not even realised it this time.

"You've threatened to kill people for staring at your tits" I said to Subject Zero "So I refuse to answer that question. I think I'll find someone safer to check out".

"Like who, the cheerleader?" the biotic said with a sneer.

Did Jack know that Miranda had been to my hotel room back when we'd all been on the Citadel?

"I don't Miranda sees me that way" I replied.

To her I was a means to an end, an escape from her father or her and her sister. Or maybe a means to power. It didn't matter really I'd take her if she wanted to go. If only to have someone help me keep things organised. Plus she had a nice ass too.

Oh I really needed a girlfriend.

"Come on I think we have time for a drink or two before tonight's madness" I said to Jack "I'll buy".

Subject Zero wasn't suitable girlfriend or harem material, but perhaps we could be friends.


	9. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Thane

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 9**

 **Thane**

 **Hovercar. Illium.**

Since only four people could fit into one of these flying cars, and because in real life Shepard did not just take two people with her on missions, that meant we had to take two hovercars on this mission. I was currently driving the second transport as it tailed the one being driven by Seryna, our asari informant.

Inside this rented car I was with Garrus, who was sitting next to me, and behind me, taking up both rear seats was Grunt. Jacob, Zeead and Shepard were in the first car with Seryna. We might have come on this trip with more people, but everyone else seemed to be busy right now. No one even knew where Goto had gotten off to, and I was pretty sure that I didn't want to know what Jack was doing. I was suppose to have been keeping an eye on her, but she'd wandered off.

"Wait so you and Tali are what exactly?" Garrus asked me.

Foolishly I'd played an audio message from Miss Zorah while driving, and I'd not known it would be so mushy. Apparently she was missing me and deeply regretting not getting to be on the Normandy.

"Friends" I said to the turian "Good friends. I spent some time on the Migrant fleet after we all went our separate ways. Tali and I have always been close".

Garrus knew I was hiding something. He'd spent too long as a cop not to notice stuff like that.

"Just friends?" he asked.

While the message hadn't mentioned sex directly, the tone of Tali's voice and certain words had hinted at future intimacy. Tali and I had always been close, and we'd been physical. But we'd never been a couple because our lives simply didn't allow it. She had her duties with the fleet and I'd been doing Jump Chain stuff as well favours for Liara.

"A gentlemen doesn't kiss and tell" I said to Archangel.

Garrus grunted as did Grunt.

"I just remember her as that kid who spent all her time in engineering" the turian went on to say.

Well maybe Tali had been naive back then, but she hadn't been a kid.

"She stopped being a child the moment she left the flotilla" I said to Garrus "And she became an adult as soon as she started risking her life to stop Saren, just like the rest of us".

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the turian nod.

"But weren't you and Ash?" he asked "You know".

I did know.

"Tali and I got closer after Ash left" I answered "And it wasn't as if Ashley and I were ever a proper couple".

Garrus grunted again, it didn't seem to mean anything.

"Sorry" he then said "Its none of my business, and I barely know Tali".

That was true, and it made them hooking up in ME3 rather odd. Then again given that they both must have known they weren't likely to survive much longer I wouldn't blame them for getting in a little romance.

"Still with the suit" Garrus was now saying "And then there's the whole dextro-acid issue. I can see why you never became a proper couple".

Yeah not being able to share the same food or be able to see your girlfriend all naked could be strain.

"But its the work that causes the real trouble" Garrus stated "My wife hated me working so much".

I almost crashed the car.

"You're married!" I shouted.

Garrus answered once he was sure I wasn't going to get us both killed.

"Ex-wife really" he told me "We never filed for divorce. Ending a Turian marriage is a complex affair, but she moved back to Palavan a few months before we met. I did too much overtime, and didn't pay her enough attention. Don't make that mistake with Tali".

Bloody hell, you think you know a guy.

(Line Break)

 **Towers. Illium.**

"We'll fight our way to Nassana," Shepard said "All the way to the penthouse on top of the second tower. Thane will probably be there by the time we've fought through all her mercs

With those not so inspiring words we all pulled out our weapons and begin our assault on the building. And as soon as we started doing that, I saw a bunch of Eclipse mercs come out to greet us. Almost all of them had their weapons out and ready to fire.

Shepard, Zaeed, and Jacob, who'd been riding in the first hovercar, as well as Garrus and I, found some cover to get behind before we started shooting. But then Grunt charged blindly into battle.

"This is a great fight!" shouted Grunt as he blasted mercs with his shotgun "More! More!"

I should have known something like this would happen. Grunt had never been in a firefight before, and he was close to reaching sexual maturity, so basically we had super solider who also happened to be an alien hormonal teenager with a shotgun. Oh dear.

Shepard attempted to get Grunt to stop running around, however it was easy to tell that her words were having absolutely no effect on him. Grunt was just running around blasting everything with his shotgun. But alas more mercs, and there could be hundreds of them in these towers, were coming down here in an attempt to deal with the insane krogan.

I took careful aim with my geth pulse rifle at a merc who was now rushing into the room. The geth weapon fired a rapid stream of high-energy phasic slugs, which while effective against barriers weren't so good against armour, however Eclipse mercs wore light armour and used strong kinetic barriers so I had no trouble.

Grunt was still going even as the mercs sent in the robots. At the rate he was going, it was surprising that he hadn't run out of heat sinks. It went on like this for about another minute, with Grunt either running around the room taking down mercs in one or two hits while the rest of us gave him covering fire as best we could.

Some part of me wanted to admire how good a warrior Grunt turned out to be. But that was kind of difficult because he was doing something so utterly stupid.

"That was a great fight!" Grunt yelled once the mercs had stopped coming "My blood boils for more!"

"Are you insane, Grunt?" asked Shepard "You could have gotten yourself killed out there!"

Kind of a silly question in my view.

"But I did not," he replied "I will live to fight again!".

Shepard put her foot down.

"Grunt; when I give you an order, you follow it. No questions asked. Ever. Do I make myself clear?".

The krogan regards her for a moment before lumbering away. He was really was an overgrown teenager.

"Fine," he said. "I shall follow your lead. Give me a good fight, and I won't complain".

I wondered how long that would last.

(Line Break)

 **Towers. Illium.**

We approached slowly and quietly so that the lone merc, who was currently yelling stuff into a radio, didn't us hear us until it was too late for him to do anything about it.

"Turn around, very slowly" Shepard ordered.

Once he did the man swore.

"Damn it," he said.

Shepard started up with the questions right away.

"Have you seen the assassin?" she asked.

The merc backed up a little bit, and who could blame him. He had a crazy red head giving him a nasty look. Even I wanted to back away and I was on Shepard's side.

"What are you looking for?" the merc was now asking. "You're not one of Nassana's mercs. Who are you?".

Shepard approached him, and he backed away more so now they were both very close to the window. From experience gained during an earlier fire fight I knew for a fact that the windows here were not made from mere glass, they were made from some sort of strong but optically transparent material that was particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck. Like any material, however, it was not completely impenetrable. But we'd not shattered any during our firefights so I wondered how Shepard would make pavement pizza out of this guy if she chose to be all renegade.

"That doesn't matter," Shepard was now saying. "I'm in a hurry, and I'm asking you for something. And there are two ways down. Express, or coach. It's your choice".

Oh, dear. I could see this not ending well, and so could the merc given how he just looked out of the window, no doubt realising just how high up we all were. But he didn't seem that worried. Perhaps because he knew how tough the window was.

"Even if I knew where he was, I wouldn't tell you" said the merc.

Shepard then leaned in real close, looking the merc straight in the eyes

"Not the answer I was looking for," she replied.

The merc took a step back and crossed his arms, he really wasn't scared. So he was either stupid or he knew something we didn't.

"I've got nothing more to say to you," he said "If you shoot me, my team's right through there".

This made me laugh.

"We got up here by stepping over the bodies of a hundred people with armour just like yours" I informed the merc "What makes you think we'd worry about your team".

The man uncrossed his arms.

"Is a little information really worth dying for?" Shepard then asked. "Is Nassana?"

The merc stood there for a second or two before nodding

"No," he finally replied. "I suppose not".

Shepard took a step back, giving the merc a little breathing room.

"Okay, look," he began by saying. "Last I heard the assassin was down in the lobby. But the teams on the bridge think they might have spotted him. Nobody knows for sure".

After this came a moment when I wondered if Shepard would use her bad ass crazy bitch powers to throw the merc through the bullet proof glass. But she didn't.

"Get out of here," she ordered "Things are about to get ugly."

The merc held up his hands in surrender and walked past Shepard.

"Huh" I muttered.

I'd actually been looking forwards to seeing if she could throw someone through that glass. Ah well.

(Line Break)

 **Towers. Illium.**

After opening the door to some sort of storage room we were greeted with the sight of a dead Eclipse merc on the floor. There were also two salarians in here, one of whom seemed to notice us enter. Upon seeing us, he drew a pistol, mostly likely taken from the dead merc, and was soon holding it shakily.

"Settle down," I heard Shepard say in a calm voice "Don't do anything stupid".

"S-stay back!" threatened the salarian, in a voice which was rich with fear "Don't come any closer, or I'll shoot! I swear I will! I don't want to hurt you, but I will! I said get back! I'll do it!".

Nobody moved.

"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here," Shepard said reassuringly. "What's your name?".

"I... I'm Telan," he replied, while still holding his pistol uncertainly. "Don't come any closer".

"Telan, I'm Commander Shepard" the Spectre was now saying "I'm not with the mercs, and I don't want to hurt you".

"Trust us, if we wanted to hurt you, we would've done so by now," I heard Garrus say. "We're here to help you and your friend".

"I..." Telan started to say, while still looking at us nervously. "All right. Here".

With that he handed over the pistol to Shepard, and he seemed a little more calm having done so. Clearly not man who'd wanted to commit an act of violence.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was dead when all these mercs started shooting" Telan explained "They just killed people, and we had to run".

He didn't own us an explanation, but we got one anyway.

"You have any idea what 'appened here?" asked Zaeed "'Cause I don't think you shot that merc".

Well they couldn't have because the merc on the floor had no weapon now, and workers weren't normally armed, so the alien had clearly taken the pistol off the corpse. So someone else shot the merc in the back, then locked the door from the outside. Keeping the two workers out of the line of fire. Thane was very good at being a precise assassin.

"No" replied Telan. "We don't know who shot the merc".

"We certainly didn't shoot him" Jacob commented.

Shepard looked over at Telan and the other alien.

"What happened exactly?" she asked.

"We were standing here" answered the other alien. "The merc shouted at us to move when he came in here. We panicked, and then he started shouting at us. I thought he was going to kill us!"

Telan continued from this point.

"And then there was a gunshot and the merc was dead" he told Shepard "I picked up his gun, but... we were too afraid to leave. And now here you are".

Here we were.

"A perfect shot, no collateral damage. I can't wait to meet the son of a bitch" Zeead muttered.

Me either. I so wanted his autograph.

"All right," Shepard was now saying "There are still mercs here. You two should get going before things get any rougher"

Telan and his fellow salarian both nodded, and then they made for the exit.

"Yes, yes, we should go," agreed Telan. "Thank you".

(Line Break)

 **Tower One. Penthouse.**

Not long after we arrived Shepard and Nassana started to talk, but I ignored the words as I wanted to scope out the room.

I could see it all play out in my mind. Over there was the vent that Thane would use to enter the room, he'd drop down and snap that guy's neck. And in the game, he would steal a merc's pistol and kill him or her with it before shooting Nassana in the stomach.

Soon I heared the loud clang that signalled that Thane was about to strike. The asari merc commented on it, and then Nassana sent someone to check it out.

I saw the drell drop down from the ventilation shaft, his fall was totally silent, and at the same time Nassana was still trying to bargain with Shepard as if she had a position to bargain from.

The drell very quickly moved towards one of the human mercs, and then in a blur I see and hear the guy's neck snap. And just like in the game, he punches the other human, who is close by, in the windpipe, leaving him to suffocate.

This was when I saw that another Eclipse merc had taken notice of this, and the merc was about to start shooting. I could have opened fire by now, but the merc was too close to Thane, I couldn't be sure that I'd not hit the assassin.

However there was no reason to be concerned. The fast moving drell simply redirected the pistol so the shots hit another figure in yellow armour. Thane then shot the merc that had tried to fire at him a mere moment earlier before turning quickly around and killing the last merc.

And then Nassana Dantius was dead. Two shots to the heart and one in the head. The entire thing took a grand total of what three maybe four seconds from when he killed the first merc to when Dantius life came to an end.

As soon as the deed is done, the assassin stepped back, and now he was looking down at Nassana's body. Dead silence settled over the room as he looked down at Nassana and cupped his hands in prayer.

"Well that was one of the most impressive entrances I've ever seen" Zeead commented.

Everyone ignored him.

"I came a long way to talk to you," Shepard was now saying "This is not quite what I was expecting".

Hell I'd been expecting this and still I hadn't been prepared to actually see Thane in action.

"One moment," he replied. "Prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken".

"You really think she deserves prayers?" Shepard asked.

Thane looked up, and his obsidian eyes quickly taking the measure of us. No doubt he already had an idea of how to kill us if needs be.

"Not for her," he said next "The words are for me"

With that he ended his prayers.

"The measure of an individual is difficult to discern by actions alone," he continued by saying, his deep voice rasping a little as he spoke. "Take you, for instance. All this destruction... chaos".

He came around the desk to face Shepard before speaking further.

"I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me," he said "Well, here I am".

"How did you know I was coming at all?" Shepard asked, while shifting slightly.

She wasn't keeping her normal cool I noted. Had seeing Thane in action unsettled her?

"I didn't," he replied, "Not until you marched through the front door and started shooting".

Grunt looked like he might start shooting again, but I didn't think he would unless Thane attacked first or if one of us opened fire. He really respected Shepard and he'd followed her led since working off his aggression down in the lobby. Which made me wonder what she'd done to him when he'd first woke up.

"Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her" Thane said.

Well she'd gotten Shepard to kill one of her sister so it made sense that any other siblings she had might decided to kill Nassana in either revenge or for self preservation.

"You were a valuable distraction" the assassin then added.

I saw Shepard frown slightly upon hearing this

"You used me so you could kill her," the commander said, with a hard edge in her voice

"I needed a diversion" Thane simply stated. "You needed to speak with me".

The assassin paused for a moment.

"What would you like to discuss?" he asked

"Someone's been abducting human colonies," replied the commander, while crossing her arms. "We're gonna stop them".

Thane turned and walked over to the window,

"We already know the culprits. They're a race called the Collectors" Shepard added.

Thane paused, and began looking out at the view.

"Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so" Thane.

Shepard laughed for a moment.

"They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos too," she said as her arms fell back to her sides.

"A fair point," Thane agreed "You have built a career on doing the impossible."

There was another pause.

"This was to be my last job," the assassin finally said. "I'm dying. Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does".

You'd think the whole galaxy would be an uproar about it, but no one other than us seemed to care much. Must because it was happening in the Terminus Systems. People were too used to bad things happening on the frontier.

"I hadn't heard about that," Shepard was now saying "Is there anything I can do?"

"Giving me this opportunity is enough," Thane said gravely. "The universe is a dark place. I'm trying to make it brighter before I die".

There was another pause. As if more dramatic tension was needed.

"Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for this, so I will work for you," said the assassin. "Free of charge".

And with this, Shepard simply nodded

"I'm glad to have you on the team, Thane," she replied, accepting the offer "We should head back to the ship. There is a lot we need to talk about".

(Line Break)

 **Stores. Illium.**

When Miranda had called me, asking for my aid. I had thought that she might need some help with her sister, but as it turned out she wanted to do some shopping. But not for herself, we were buying things for future Jumps.

That wasn't the strange thing about today, but matters were odd for me. Yesterday I'd been helping to recruit an assassin and today I'd helped Miranda put her sister, and her family into stasis within my Cosmic Warehouse.

Which was just weird, but it would keep them safe from Miranda's father, who was one of the most powerful and wealthy humans in the entire galaxy, but even he had no influence over what went on inside the cosmic warehouse.

Miranda had done something to the pods that locked them even from me, some sort of locking device that checked her DNA, before placing the stasis pods inside a larger container, which she also locked.

Apparently this made her feel more secure about the whole thing. I felt less secure because to me this seemed as if I'd kidnapped some people. Not that they'd struggled, but it still had felt wrong. Plus I had no idea if Jump Chan would even let me take those people with me since they hadn't signed on to be companions.

Miss Lawson had assured me that it was all done to protect them as her father would kill her sister's adopted family if he sought to reclaim his youngest daughter, and having played ME3 I could well believe that of Henry Lawson.

The deal Miranda and I now had was that I got her for my harem as long as her sister was safe, and I had to find a world for them, some place like Star Trek Earth were they would be well looked after. Plus Miranda wanted super powers and to see other universes.

"You need to talk to this Tali friend of yours" Miranda said as she took me into another store "And I don't mean via messages".

I wasn't sure if the supplies we were getting were meant for the Normandy or for the Cosmic Warehouse, but I was sure that Miranda would see to them being delivered either to the ship or the hotel room I was renting so that I could access the warehouse away from prying eyes.

Miranda had brought things not for the warehouse as such but for the apartments within the warehouse. Things women would need, such as clothes, but also stuff for my enjoyment, that members of my future harem would wear. Apparently the asari enjoyed cosplay and as such they had plenty of sexy outfits for sale.

"About what?" I asked.

I couldn't even pretend to be surprised or offended that Miranda was somehow reading my mail. Normally I would be both, but I knew she wasn't a good person, but I had her sister and the only way for Miranda to ever see her sister again would be for her to stay on my good side so I knew she wouldn't betray me. Miranda was taking a risk so I figured she must think she can control me, at least to an extent. However I doubted she wanted to control me directly because then she wouldn't have suggested the Terminator verse and those perks.

"While reading up on this whole Jump Chain thing I noticed your plans for a harem" she replied "Clever idea to use prothean stasis pods to get around the limit Jump Chan set up for you, but you haven't given much thought to who would be good for your harem and what role they'd serve".

Well I'd had lots of other things on my mind.

"I should organise your harem and be your second in command" said Miranda "I'm an experienced operative and good at organisation. I checked out Tali'Zorah she'd make a fine chief engineer for the group, but she doesn't know that things have changed. You need to be the one to tell her that, and you need to get her approval before I fully commit. Trust me you want to make sure she knows what's going on and you need to involve her in setting up this harem otherwise she isn't just going to accept me joining you".

Tali hadn't even made a proper commitment to joining up. Not that I blamed her, she had things her people needed her do, a home world to retake and oh yeah a Reaper invasion to worry about. Things like that tended to distract a person from other matters.

"She sends you nearly as many message as Liara T'soni" Miranda was now saying "So clearly you are important to her".

Ah so Miss Lawson might just know who was sending me messages not what the messages were saying. Which made sense or the whole being a Jumper thing wouldn't have surprised her so much.

"Tell her in person, and buy her a present" Miranda advised "Something that shows that you think about her, she's a combat engineer so maybe the latest omni-tool if you really want to impress her. Or something for her suit".

That sounded good.

"Any more advice?" I enquired.

I was rather bad at women stuff. Really if it weren't for that scary Jump Chan lady I wouldn't even trying to put together a harem.

"Maybe take her out somewhere nice if you get the chance" Miranda said "You need to make her feel special. All women like that, and its lot easier to make us go along with your plans if we feel like an important part of them. Trust me its a woman issue".

I'd take her word on that.

"Oh and then I'll talk to her so I can assure that I'm not trying to take her place, but rather that I'm there to help you get the most of your Jumps" Miranda said next "She'll commit and so will I, then we can seal the deal as it were".

It didn't take me long to figure out what that meant.

"But for now we should focus on shopping" the Cerberus cheerleader urged "We'll need a few more toys for when your harem grows. I think we should aim for no less than a thirty women before you do last Jump, that way you'll have experts in many fields to call upon".

Wow Miranda really had thought this all through. More so than I had it seemed.

(Line Break)

 **Engineering. The Normandy.**

I heared the door open and I turned to look at Shepard, who seemed to be fairly calm right now. I nodded to her and saluted.

"Commander the main gun has been removed, and it will be a couple of days before they are ready to install the new cannons Garrus has been harping on about, and that will take about a week" I reported "Which means if we need to leave suddenly then well we won't be able to, so if anything does happen to take us off world it better happen soon".

To be fair we would need the extra firepower, and if Horizon got hit or if we had to rush off the save Tali, then the re-fit issues would be a problem. Alas you couldn't just slap on a pair of nice new cannons. Still as long as the refit didn't get in the way it would be worth it as the new main weapon would so awesome.

The origins of the Thanix cannon began shortly after the Battle of the Citadel. Volunteers spent three months clearing the station's orbit of debris. During the cleanup, the turians secretly salvaged Sovereign's powerful main gun along with much of the weapon's element zero core. Eleven months later, the turians introduced the Thanix, a scaled-down version of the weapon.

A Thanix's core was a liquid alloy of iron, uranium, and tungsten suspended in an electromagnetic field which was powered by element zero. The molten metal, when accelerated to a significant fraction of the speed of light, solidified into a projectile as it was fired, hitting targets with enough force to pierce any known shield or armour. The gun could fire reliably about once every five seconds.

The weapons relatively small size allowed it to be mounted on most frigates, including the Normandy SR-2, once the re-fit was done we'd have firepower rivalling that of a cruiser, hopefully a Collector Cruiser.

"EDI has been keeping me informed" Shepard said while looking around "Where are those two Cerberus engineers?".

"Shore leave" I answered "And if your wondering about listening devices I removed them all already".

Cortana had detected them easily enough.

"I spoke to Thane" Shepard started by saying "There is something... mysterious about him. It's really quite alluring..."

Oh dear. She was falling for the assassin, and fast.

"I see" I replied.

Poor Liara, but this might be good for me since I wanted Liara in my harem for future Jumps, she was smart and a better fighter than people might think. Still the whole Liara thing was complex to say the least so I hadn't pestered here about making a commitment.

"We made fast friends, that is for sure," Shepard was now saying "He's so sensitive. I'm finding myself drawn to him".

"Oh" was all I had so say.

I could tell that I needed to say more.

"What about Liara?" I asked.

Joan frowned.

"She wants me to keep my distance" Shepard told me.

Oh dear.

"So I'm free to go after Thane, the only problem is it might not get past friendship, and I've been dead for two years. How does any relationship work that out?".

I had no idea.

"Hmmmm I really don't know," I replied. "We'll just have to see what happens and roll with the punches".

Good that sounded helpful, but actually wasn't.

"Thanks, Gothic," Shepard was now saying "You're a good friend".

With that she left, and I wondered if the Commander had found something meaningful in my words, because I sure hadn't. Maybe she'd just wanted someone to listen to her talk?

Well whatever I had work to do.


	10. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Horizon

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 10  
**

 **Horizon.**

 **Colony. Terminus Systems.**

Samantha Traynor looked into the bright sky of Horizon. Even during the day, the sky was so clear here. The sun never seemed to hide behind the clouds. Which was a shame because then she wouldn't be walking around half blinded.

"Was it always this bright?" the brunette grumbled.

Her mother chuckled.

"Sam, you really need to stop spending your days staring at monitors and data pads" she gently chided "Try to remember that you did grow up in farming community, you know a little sun won't kill you. Besides at night the star gazing here is amazing".

Traynor still would have preferred some cloud cover.

"If I want to stare at the stars and planets, that's what digital telescopes and long-range visual data analysis are for," Samantha said good-naturedly.

Unlike her mother Samantha sounded British, this was due to all the years that she'd spent studying on Earth at Oxford University.

"So, has the Alliance war-machine got you doing anything useful these days?" her mother asked "Anything that you can talk about, anyways?".

Neither of Samantha's parents approved of the Alliance or its navy.

"It's called research and development, Mum," Samantha said with a sigh "Working with the kind of stuff that I do, it's mean working with cutting edge technology".

Which she enjoyed greatly.

"As if the Systems Alliance needed more weapons" her mother muttered, before raising her voice "I just don't want you to end up dying on some Godforsaken backwater rock like that Alliance Hero that you were so obsessed with a few years back"

Samantha blushed.

"It's Commander Joan Shepard and I was NOT obsessed" the younger of the two women protested "I simply admired the woman for her accomplishments".

Her mother smiled.

"Oh well that explains the posters" she then said "You know your father told me that you'd start playing for the other team as soon as he saw them".

Samantha groaned in embarrassment and diverted her attention to the GARDIAN defence system she and her mother were now walking by. Idly, she wondered what was taking the Alliance officer and her team so long. The actual construction seemed complete, and the new generator was online, which probably meant that any delay was an issue with the calibration of the gun's auto-targeting systems

"Mum I'll be back soon I just want to check on something" Traynor said.

She then went over to where the GARDIAN defence system had been set up.

"Lt Williams!" she called out.

Then she remembered to salute.

"You military?" Williams asked.

Samantha nodded.

"Communications Specialist Samantha Traynor, ma'am, on shore leave; normally assigned to R&D back on Earth" she asked.

Which was in a totally different part of the galaxy.

"You're a tech head? What the Hell are you doing way out here?" the officer wondered "Is this where you're from?".

Not as such as the colony had only been founded eight years ago.

"As I said, ma'am, on shore leave visiting family," the Com-Specialist said to her superior officer "I was hoping that I might be able to help you with your project. Seems like your having some trouble. Not that I think that you aren't capable or anything".

Ash smiled.

"Let me guess your neighbours are still moaning and you figured that you'd see if you could do something to speed me on my way?" the officer asked.

Samantha frowned.

"Ma'am, I'm in Alliance R&D. I got the chance to study at one of the best schools on Earth because of the Alliance. Trust me when I say that you could not find a bigger fan of the Alliance here than me".

"Sorry, Traynor," Ashley said before she wiped sweat off her forehead. "I've been in hostile territory for a while now. Hasn't been easy for me, calibrating a giant gun is a little outside of my comfort zone. I guess for you it's just another glitchy computer right?"

Traynor looked at the controls.

"Well, I can see one problem right away" Samantha reported "There's some kind of malware in the system".

Ashley wasn't exactly shocked to hear that and the Specialist picked up on that.

"You don't seem surprised to hear that your systems have a virus" Samantha commented "And its not like any malware I've seen before. I don't think anyone local did this".

Ash looked around to see if anyone was listening in.

"Traynor, I take it that you've heard about our fringe colonies being attacked and the people abducted, right?" the Alliance officer asked.

Samantha nodded.

"I heard it was slavers" she then said.

Williams snorted with derision,

"That's the official story, Traynor, and you seem way too intelligent to ever believe the party line".

Samantha was.

"Well, back on Earth there were rumours that Cerberus was involved somehow" she said.

Ash nodded.

"That's more than just rumours, actually. The most recent attack was at the Feel Prime colony".

Traynor hadn't heard about Fehl Prime being attacked, as far as she knew Feris Fields had been the last sight of an incident.

"Did they say who managed to take down an entire colony?" Traynor asked.

Ash shook her head.

"All they mentioned in their report was something about seeing swarms of insects in the area" she replied "and one surviving Marines claims he encountered a Cerberus traitor, who may have aided the enemy" she told Samantha.

"Hold on you think that there's a traitor, here on Horizon" Samantha soon realised.

"I KNOW that there's a traitor on Horizon," Ashley said with a sigh. "That virus you detected? It's just the latest bit sabotage. I could have had one of my techs fix it but I'm hoping that if the culprit thinks that I can't fix this attempt at sabotage, then they won't do anything that can actually hurt people".

"But… but what if someone attacks the colony?" Traynor asked "You won't have time to purge the system and get the gun online."

Ashley smiled.

"Don't worry. As long as I can get to the controls, I can quick-reboot the system and bring the targeting software online" she assured Samantha.

"That's a big risk, don't you think?" Samantha asked in concern.

"Trust me, I learned from the best," Ashley replied confidently "Commander Joan Shepard, saviour of The Citadel".

Traynor smiled.

"You know the Hero of the Geth War?" Samantha asked.

Not that it had been a real war, more of a lot of boarder skirmishes really, if you didn't count the battle for the Citadel, or a least that was the way it would be recorded in the history books.

"I thought I did," the Alliance officer said with a grunt.

Samantha was too busy looking up at the sky to catch the bitter tone in Ashley's voice. Finally the colony had gotten some cloud cover, only it wasn't a cloud that had blocked out the sun it was a ship. A very big and downright unfriendly looking ship.

(Line Break)

 **Comm Room. The Normandy.**

The doors to the Normandy's conference room slid open and Shepard arrived at what was more or less a council of war. The low level of noise as the team chatted amongst themselves quieted down to nothing as she entered, and Shepard's quickly swept her gaze over everyone, taking them in

Miranda and Jacob were at the head of the table going over something on a data pad that the former marine held. Jack was lurking in a corner doing her best to look uninterested. Mordin was pacing, muttering something that no doubt involved a lot of calculations. At the far end of the table Garrus and Gothic stood across from Zaeed. And Grunt loomed in the corner across from Jack looking bored.

Everybody but Jack turned their attention to Shepard as she stepped up to the head of the table, the two Cerberus Operatives moving in order to make room.

"This is it everybody" Shepard said.

Her voice was calm, confident, yet there was still a hint of the excitement around her.

"The colony on Horizon has just gone dark. The Illusive Man believes that this means that they are either under attack or soon will be. This is the first chance we've had, that anyone has had, to catch the Collectors in the act. Now we don't have any weapons capable of taking on a cruiser, so we'll have to land and take the fight to them on the ground".

There had been time to get the new cannons installed, the Normandy would have to return to Illium in order for that job to be finished.

"EDI, pull up the latest map we have of Horizon" Shepard ordered.

A scale model of the colony blazed to life in the centre of the table

"We will split into three teams" Shepard was now saying "The main team, consisting of myself, Grunt, and Jack, our heavy hitters will land here. From there we will proceed towards the main colony building, making as much noise and drawing as much attention to ourselves as we possibly can".

Grunt's almost sullen expression cleared when he heard that he would be in the thick of things, and he enthusiastically pounded his fist into an open palm. Jack also perked up, going so far as to push off the wall and join the rest of the group at the table.

"Next up is the science team. Professor, I want you to land behind my team and follow in our wake" Shepard told Mordin "Gather any tech you can and take any samples you feel will be useful. Zeead, and Miranda, you'll protect the Professor while he works. Jacob you'll be our pilot for this mission".

Shepard then turned to face her old XO.

"Gothic, you, Thane and Garrus will be our back up. If either my team or Mordin's gets into trouble I am counting on the three of you to come and bail us out" the commander was now saying "Otherwise try to stay out of sight. I want you three to be a surprise".

Given that Garrus and Gothic had personal cloaking devices, and that Thane was a master assassin, an expert in not being seen until it was too late, they should be fine.

"Commander, I should be with your team" Miranda Lawson stated.

Miranda was Shepard's XO, if not by choice, and therefore she had the right to say such things, but Shepard didn't want a debate.

"My team has to move fast and hit hard, Miranda" the Spectre replied "Now, are there any questions?"

A few hands went up and Shepard pointed to Gothic.

"What's the overall mission goal" he asked "Are we going in to kill Collectors, to look for survivors, or just to get some intel".

"We do need to gather as much information on our opponents as we can" the commander answered "But my team's mission will be to draw their attention to us, we will be doing everything we can to stop the abductions, however keep in mind that our over all goal is to stop the Collectors once and for all. If that means we have to sacrifice a few colonists to get the intel we need, then that's what will happen But only if that becomes absolutely necessary".

Murmurs and grunts of agreement sounded around the table, then Garrus asked a question.

"Shepard, do we have a solution to the seeker swarms yet?" he asked.

The commander motioned to Mordin.

"Professor Solus thinks he has developed a countermeasure that should keep us protected" she replied "Professor?"

Mordin nodded.

"Yes. Countermeasures should work. Done extensive test. As extensive as could be, at least. Not guaranteed. Some risk of failure. Still, theoretically sound. Should work" he said quickly.

If his counter to the paralysing power of the Collector's seeker swarms turned out to be ineffectual, the mission would be a rather short one.

"It is because of that reason that my team will enter the colony first we the other teams following behind" Shepard told everyone" If something happens to us the other teams should be able to pull out in time to avoid getting caught".

At least that was the plan, but since when did Shepard's plan ever work out.

(Line Break)

 **Shuttle. On Route.**

The small craft dropped though the atmosphere of Horizon, with Jacob at the controls, the rest of us were looking at a screen which displayed the Collector cruiser, it hadn't landed like in the game, instead there was this the huge thing just hanging motionless up in the air.

"How the hell does it do that?" Garrus asked "A ship that size shouldn't even be able to enter a planet's atmosphere!".

"Sovereign " Shepard murmured.

I understood what she meant. Like me she'd been on Eden Prime when the Geth had attacked and as such had seen Sovereign defy gravity with ease.

"Apparently, the Collectors possess the Reapers ability for finely-tuned manipulation of mass-effect fields" Mordin said quickly.

Soon we'd all see what other kinds of tech they shared.

"Jacob, find us a landing spot." Shepard requested.

"I'm putting us done it what looks to be a park!" the former Corsair yelled over the whining of the shuttle's engines. "The Seeker Swarms are clear of our LZ, so we should have a few minutes before they notice us!".

"Take us in" Shepard ordered, before turning to our mad science guy. "Are you sure about these armour upgrades, Mordin?".

The old scientist blinked at her before shrugging.

"Never tested outside controlled conditions of lab. Could fail completely; hence, why I wanted to come along. But, should offer us protection. In theory" he replied.

I really hoped that this part was just like the game and that it the setting was on easy.

"In theory?" Garrus asked "Spirits!".

To be fair it hadn't been encouraging.

"Even if tested inside lab, still needed to be deployed against Collectors. Risk inherent with any untried military hardware. Reminds me of good old days in STG" Mordin said.

Shepard didn't look so worried.

"The Seekers only seem to attack humans" she said "so while every human member of our team could end up being paralysed at some point, the non-humans might still be free to act. Garrus if that happens, you take charge of the mission".

Archangel didn't look happy about this.

"Shepard, are you sure about this? he asked.

"Sidonis wasn't your fault, Garrus," Shepard insisted "And I need someone I know will put the mission first, that's you".

This was when I noticed that Goto was in the co-pilots, we didn't normally bring her along for combat mission as she was sneaky thief type not a fighter. We might need her later however.

I then turned to look at Miranda. The genetically-engineered woman was sporting a tight glossy black-and-gold outfit that looked far more protective then her normal bodysuit yet somehow still drew attention to ass and boobs.

"My compliments to your tailor Miss Lawson" I joked.

While she smiled at me her heart didn't seem in it. Something was bothering her, and I didn't have time to enquire as moments later the shuttle came in for a landing.

(Line Break)

 **LZ. Horizon.**

The shuttle settled into place and Miranda leapt the remaining meter to the ground, grunting and bending her knees to absorb the impact. Beside her Zeead landed in a similar crouch with the salarian scientist soon joining them on the ground.

As a group they then began to moved forward, Miranda getting just a little bit ahead of the others in order to take point. From the outside Miranda was the picture of calm collected professionalism, on the inside however she was a mite peeved.

She should be part of the main team, however she was not, she could understand Grunt's assignment, the krogan was the next best thing to unkillable. But Jack? Jack was unstable at the very best of times. She was as much a danger to her allies as she was to her opponents.

If it had been up to her, Jack would have been left on board the Normandy. She was best used when solving a problem was simply of using force. Putting her in the point team on a mission to gather intelligence and save civilians? That was just stupid.

The analytical part of her mind told her that the Commander had to have made the best tactical decision. They're had to be valid reasons why Shepard had taken Jack when her. But Miss Lawson simply couldn't see them.

Miranda was smart enough to soon realise that she needed to remain focused, she was getting distracted, and while this was understandable given how down right insane her life had become recently, what with the whole Jump Chain thing as well as attempting to stop the Collectors, but the distractions could get her killed. She had to focus.

Ahead of her the colony was eerily still. Nothing moved, but for some reason it didn't feel like it had on Freedom's Progress. That colony had been still as well, but there had been a sense of emptiness, she'd felt that even from in orbit. She didn't get that feeling now.

Miranda rounded the corner of a prefabricated building and almost ran head first into a colonist. She reacted by bringing up her sub-machine gun and preparing to fire. This proved to be unnecessary because her target wasn't in any way a threat.

The body, that of a human make, was frozen in a posture of abject terror, one armed raised up as if to shield his face from something. But from what? The Seeker Swarms?

She eased her weapon down and leaned in to inspect the colonist as best she could. The man, a human male. His eyes seemed to follow her movements, like some eyes in paintings could. Then Miranda realised that eyes were actually tracking her. This man was frozen in place, but he was fully aware of what was going on around him.

"Shepard, we found one of the colonists" she reported.

The only reply was a very faint hiss of static. She tried again.

"Shepard, this is Miranda, do you read?"

Zeead had caught up to her as she spoke and he indicated the motionless form.

"Poor bastard" he said.

Mordin was already taking scans.

"I think our communications are being jammed" Miranda informed the team "Come on we need to find Shepard".

The chatter of automatic weapons suddenly split the air, and a short distance away there was a shout followed by an explosion.

"We should..." Miranda started to say.

That was when she saw them. There were twelve of them flying in a loose v formation about twenty meters above the prefab buildings. Humanoid in shape but distinctly insectoid in appearance, with dragonfly like wings sprouting from their backs and two sets of eyes; eyes which quickly locked on her.

"Oh bloody hell," she muttered.

Four of them detached from the group, angling in for a landing that should put them down behind a group of crates that were just ahead of her.

Miss Lawson soon had her submachine gun up and the buzzing of alien wings was now fading away, only to be replaced by the drone of their weapons as they opened up.

Two of them had taken up shooting positions and they were covering the other two as they advanced. Miranda lined up a shot which was aimed at the closer of the two incoming aliens and fired at it until she needed to replace her thermal clip. She had too because it took all that fire power just to bring one Collector down. Zeead did the same leaving only two of the four Collectors to worry about.

She reloaded her weapon and took a moment to catch her breath, Then she gritted her teeth and called upon her biotics. The remaining Collectors had taken cover and Miranda used her special ability to remove that cover by scattering the containers. This allowed Zeead and the Professor to finish off the two Collector using their hand held weapons.

Moments later the team moved on, intending to regroup with Shepard, only they came across something odd. A frozen colonist who was wearing armour, she'd been placed in pod.

Mordin scanned her.

"Lt Williams. Alliance Navy" he reported.

Miranda knew that name.

"As in Operations Chief Williams?" Zeead wondered "Off the old Normandy?".

The marine was sealed in a pod, and it took some effort but the two Cerberus Operatives and the salarian were able to free her.

Soon the marine sat up in the pod, her eyes darting left and right as hands instinctively reached for a weapon. Her gaze locked on Miranda and she seemed to relax a little; that was until she saw the black and gold logo on Miranda's uniform.

"Cerberus" said Ash "Just my luck. Should have known that you were behind the colony abductions".

Miranda sighed.

"No the Collectors are behind the abductions. We just saved your life" she said.

Williams quickly got out of the pod.

"I don't know what kinda trick you are playing here, but it won't work" Ash stated.

Miranda then decided to hand over her sidearm, this gesture very much confused the Alliance Navy marine.

"The Collectors are here" he said "So you're gonna need this".

The Alliance officer shot her a suspicious look, but she took the weapon before moving away.

(Line Break)

 **Colony. Horizon.**

My team kept our distance from Shepard but it wasn't long before we saw some action, which wasn't surprising really as that Collector ship could be holding thousands of the Prothean husks, even with the abductions going on they had more than enough spare troops to throw at us. Also I was not surprised that our cloaking devices hadn't done us any good. The Collectors were using Reaper tech after all.

I saw Garrus draw his avenger model assault rifle, even as I got my pulse rifle ready to fire. Thane was somewhere behind us with a sniper rife.

"Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter" I swore.

The Collectors looked even more creepy in real life. I'd seen a small group of them once before, back when I'd looking into a sudden increase in the demand for human slaves, which Aria, the queen of Omega had gotten involved in, but if anything this lot seemed even more scary and alien. It must have something to do with them walking around in board daylight.

"Hard to believe that these guys used to be Protheans" I heard Garrus say.

I'd told everyone about that, and even without my knowledge of the games I would have known anyway since I'd seen the visions.

After getting into cover I fired at one of the collectors, which very quickly rushed into cover, but not quickly enough, phasic shots from my weapon slew the creature in short order.

The Collectors were so startled by our attack that Garrus, who was a much better shot than I, was able to take done three of them with assault rifle fire in very short order.

Turning I saw Thane, who had assumed a position farther back from the rest of us, take aim at one of the collectors in the air and send it flying into the ground.

I then followed his sniper rifle as he aimed at something else, and I could see that was Thane indeed insanely good at this job, he was taking down Collectors which I could barely see.

Another group was now heading our way, flying in, but Thane was handling things, and he shot down one of them. Garrus caught on quickly, and shot another collector out of the air with his sniper rifle. Since I was lacking a weapon with that kind of range I wanted until the remaining Collectors landed before getting to kill anything.

Eventually we got to a point where the Collectors were starting to come at us a little less frequently. Garrus and Thane took down so many of the airborne reinforcements, that the scary aliens had to come at us from the ground.

It looked as if we'd be able to met with Shepard group without much trouble.

"Assuming direct control"

"FUCK!" I shouted.

Now we were in trouble.

(Line Break)

 **Colony. Horizon.**

After my team had joined with the small group Shepard led we came across a garage of some sort, or maybe it was for some sort of storage area. We entered and found no one, but in fact we simply didn't see anyone, that didn't mean they weren't there.

"Samantha, are you crazy? Those things will hear us!" I heard someone whisper loudly.

Shepard stepped forward.

"We're here to help!" she called out.

From behind a console that was in front of us, I could hear the shuffling of something, and then I saw a handgun, but it wasn't pointed at anyone.

"Samantha Traynor" the woman said "I'm Specialist Samantha Traynor I mean. I'm visiting my parents".

Specialist Samantha Traynor was the Comm Specialist aboard the Alliance Normandy SR-2, in ME3. She was there serving in a similar role to that of her predecessor, Yeoman Kelly Chambers. Also she was a potential romance option for a female Shepard.

"Commander Shepard" our fearless leader replied "I'm a Spectre, this is my team".

No one spoke for a moment.

"Who was talking to you?" Shepard asked.

Miss Traynor pointed to a dark corner.

"He's a colonist" she said "And I don't think he's coming out. Not that it matters. We don't know what's goin' on, except that the colony's under attack".

"Well, at least you haven't been taken away yet" Shepard commented "Are you two all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine," a man replied as he came out of hiding "I was working in here when I heard the screaming, and Sam rushed in before I closed the door.

On what he been working on he didn't say. Not that it mattered right now.

"You weren't doing a very good job of keeping quiet" Shepard said as she crossed her arms. "You would've given yourselves away if we'd been the enemy".

The local man looked over at Traynor.

"I told you to keep quiet, what if these guys had been the slavers we heard earlier?".

Hold on they thought slavers were behind this?

"They weren't slavers," Shepard explained "They were Collectors".

That got us puzzled looks.

"They're this race of insectoid bad guys" I explained "They've been attacking human colonies, and taking everybody there. They're the ones behind the attack on Freedom's Progress, and we got intel that they were attacking this place next".

Traynor seemed less surprised than the man she'd been hiding with.

"So that's why they had the Gardian lasers set up" the guy said.

Shepard asked about that.

"The Alliance came in to set up some defences" the male colonist told us "They had some Alliance officer here and a few techs, Williams her name is".

Shepard, Garrus and I all exchanged looks.

"Ash?" asks Shepard. "Do you know where she is?"

Traynor shook her head.

"No idea," she replied "She was outside when those bugs started attacking. She told me to run, and I did".

"We're wasting our fucking time here," said Jack, who was clearly eager to go back to fighting "We need to get moving, like, now".

Shepard turned to the crazy biotic.

"Stopping the Collectors is our top priority, but if we can save Ashley we will" she told Subject Zero.

Shepard then turned to face Traynor.

"Now tell me all about these GARDIAN lasers" she ordered.

(Line Break)

 **Colony. Horizon.**

"Alliance!" someone shouted "What good were you, huh?".

Oh great it was that anti-alliance guy. The kind of person who'll blame everyone but himself for things that went wrong.

"We're not Alliance," Shepard replied

"You still took your damn sweet time to save us!" shouted the man.

"There was nothing we could do," replied Shepard.

He was deaf to reason.

"Half the colony's in there!" shouted the man frantically. "They took Lilith, and Ed, and Simon!"

We did our best ignore him.

"Shepard now would be a good time to gather some samples" Garrus said.

Miranda's team was suppose to have been doing that, and I had wanted to do more looting, but here hadn't been time.

"Wait, Shepard...?" asked the colonist. "I've heard that name. You're some kind of big shot Alliance hero".

"Commander Shepard" said a voice.

And right on cue Ashley Williams appeared.

"Captain of the Normandy, the first human Spectre, saviour of the Citadel. You're in the presence of a legend, Delan, and a ghost."

The colonist crossed his arms over his chest.

"Figures," he says bitterly "All the good people get taken away, and you're left behind. Screw this. I'm done with you Alliance types".

As the colonist walks away, Ashely came forward, she and Shepard locked eyes for a few moment. The two of them stood directly in front of each other, not saying a word. The silence went on for about a minute, and then the two of them pulled each other into a hug, which they ended before long.

"I thought you were dead" Ash was now saying "We all did".

"It's been too long, Ash" Shepard was now saying "and I was clinically dead. It took Cerberus two years to bring me back".

At the mention of Cerberus Ashley took a step back.

"We've been getting reports about you and Cerberus" Ash told Shepard "Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies. We got a tip that this colony might be the next one to get hit. Anderson sent me a message letting me know you were a live, but then I heard that you were working for the enemy".

"Cerberus and I want the same thing," Shepard said next "To save our colonies. It doesn't mean I joined them".

Ash suddenly became hostile.

"Do you really believe that?" she asked "Or is that just what Cerberus wants you to think?".

At least Cerberus was actually doing something about the colonies.

"I wanted to believe you were back" Ashley said, while taking another step back "And Garrus, Gothic! You even joined her!".

Wow she'd gone from hot to cold really fast.

"You betrayed everything you believed in" Ash said to Shepard, Garrus and I "You betrayed everything you fought for. You betrayed me".

Really because I remembered her leaving me.

"Ash you know me," Shepard reasoned "I wouldn't be doing this unless I had a damn good reason".

She then gestured to the colony.

"You saw it yourself. The Collectors are kidnapping human colonies, and they're working with the Reapers" Shepard said.

Ash's expression remained cold.

"I want to believe you Shepard," she replied. "I really do. But I don't trust Cerberus. They could be using the threat of the Reapers to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?".

Shepard reached out for her old crew mate.

"You're letting Cerberus's history get in the way of the facts" the commander argued.

When playing the game it was always surprising to me that Garrus' presence here didn't immediately tip Kaidan or Ashely off that Shepard wasn't really with the terrorists. Cerberus had a reputation as xenophobic group. So if Garrus was there, then why the hell didn't that tell Kaidan or Ashely that maybe he/she should listened Shepard?

Right now we had a whole load of aliens with us. Then I remembered that Ash was a bit racist despite having worked with aliens, so perhaps in this case it made sense.

"Maybe," said the Alliance marine. "Or maybe you feel you owe Cerberus because they saved you".

Ash backed away some more.

"I know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier, not a Cerberus lackey" she said, while turning her back on us "I'm going back to the Citadel. I'll let them decide whether or not to believe your story".

Shepard, perhaps needing a distraction right now, used her comm device to contact the ship.

"EDI, I want as many people as we can spare to come down here and start collecting evidence. Their priorities are clues about the Collectors and giving aid the colonists that are still here. See what you can do for them and let's hope the stasis fields wear off in time"

Mordin then came up to me.

"Would also like to examine Collector particle weapon. Might be able to come up with method to neutralise" he said.

I was stilling holding the weapon. I didn't want to let it go.

"Gothic" said Shepard.

I sighed.

"Fine I'll drop it off in his lab later" I said "After I've made some scans of my own".

Mordin would no doubt take this weapon apart, but if I couldn't get another of the heavy weapons from somewhere around here I should be able to get one when we boarded the Collector ship.

Looking around I saw that Ashley was still here. No doubt conflicted about simply leaving.

"Ash, come with me," Shepard requested "We can present our evidence to the Council and the Alliance together. If we mobilise the fleets, get moving on this while there's still time, maybe we can still rescue the people that we lost today".

She didn't leap at the chance.

"So what, you come back from the dead with no explanation aside from some pretty-disturbing rumours and you just expect me to drop everything to follow the great Commander Shepard and her gang of terrorists across the galaxy?".

I was not a terrorist. I was so going to find a way to make her pay for calling me a terrorist. Also Shepard was not happy about being called that.

"Damn it, Ash" she said "Fine, whatever I don't have time for this".

Shepard then got back on the radio.

"Joker get a flight path for the Collector Ship" she ordered "I want to be sure its gone through the relay before we leave".

"Already on it," Joker replied on an open channel we could all here "Chakwas wants to get down there on the next shuttle, in case there are any wounded".

By this point several colonists were emerging from hiding, and a few of them were gawking at Shepard. They must have seen her image on the news recently.

"Why is everyone looking at us?" the Commander asked.

Now that they were closer I did notice that their looks were pretty intense.

"Maybe they're wondering how heroes of the Alliance could be working for Cerberus," Ashley said rather cattily.

Wow she'd gone from being warm, to cold, to hostile and now she was all pissy. I was so tempted to make a PMS joke, but I was better than that.

"You're Commander Shepard, right?" a blonde-haired woman asked. "THE Commander Shepard?"

This was when I realised that some good PR could go a very long way in helping us.

"I know that you've all lost people today" Shepard said, addressing the crowd "Friends, family, I'll do what I can to bring them back, I promise you, and I will do everything within in my power to stop these attacks".

"Thank you" the woman murmured

"What about the Alliance!" someone else called out "What are they doing about this".

I actually laughed, and everyone looked at me.

"Come on" I said "If they were gonna do anything, they'd have done something when the abductions started two years ago".

The Alliance didn't care about Terminus colonies they were too busy preparing for a massive invasion of Earth and other major population centres.

"Two years?!" someone in the crowd shouted. "Those things have been taking people for two years?".

"What's the Alliance doing about this?" a person asked.

I could see a lynch mob in Ash's future. I didn't want her to die so I figured I best do something about this. With that it mind I climbed up on a crate and fired my pistol into the air.

"Okay listen to me" I requested of the crowd "The Collectors have been striking at isolated targets so that pirates or slavers would be blamed, and they only recently stepped up their attacks. Now if the GARDIAN defence systems that the Alliance installed hadn't been here then the Collectors would have gotten away with everyone".

This didn't soothe as much as I had hoped. None of my perks had helped here.

"But what's the Alliance going to do to get my husband back?"

"And my daughter?"

"What about my wife?"

"As Shepard said, We'll be out there trying to find your friends and family and if she can't then she'll make damn sure the Collectors pay dearly for every life they took!" I told the crowd.

A roar overhead saw a white Kodiak shuttle, with the Cerberus logo emblazoned on it, landing on the ground and disgorging two squads of ship personnel dressed up in Cerberus Assault Armor. They fanned out quickly, omnitools lighting as they started gathering samples. Others were tending to people who were still stuck in those pods.

As soon as the shuttle landed I saw Ashely move away, so did Garrus.

"Never mind her, Shepard," Garrus said to the Commander "I'm with you, so is Gothic, and Tali will definitely help out. We've got your back. We're friends, and real friends stick by each other".

That they did.

"Yeah I guess my friends are here, aren't they?"Shepard said with a weak grin on her face.

(Line Break)

 **Lower Deck. The Normandy.**

It was late at night and I was down in engineering using this quiet as a chance to study the Collector weapons we'd salvaged. If I couldn't sneak samples into my cosmic warehouse then at the very least I'd get some scans and then I'd transcribe the information onto data disks later. Gathering more info also made Cortana happy.

"The Collector's version of an assault rifles uses the same basic principles as most other assault rifles, which makes sense given that everyone's tech is based on that of Mass Effect" I recorded "but this weapon has organic components, which is freaky. Its power source appears to be an organ of some kind and judging by the readings I'm getting and the ezzo I'm guessing that this weapon organic parts involve biotics of some kind".

This tech was far beyond my understanding, but perhaps one day I'd comprehend the science behind it.

"As for ammo it uses pellets of some kind of metallic enamel" I was now saying "Also while it is an accurate automatic assault rifle, and it does a decent amount of damage, its also rather heavy and it uses thermal clips which limits its rate of rifle".

It wasn't that impressive considering the level of tech the Collectors had. However the Collector Particle Beam was much more impressive".

"This focused-radiation weapon is very effective against shields, barriers, and armour" I said into my omni-tool "If it could be unscaled it might make an effective ship mounted weapon for use against the Reapers, but I don't think they'll be time to back engineer it"

I then heard the door open, and when I looked to the side, I saw a drell assassin entering engineering.

"Oh, hi Thane," I said while turning to the alien "how are you?"

The drell didn't answer right away, instead he went over for a look at the drive core.

"I am worried about the commander" he admitted a few moments later.

Not for a second had I imagined that Ash's rejection would effect Shepard so badly. Heck I'd sort of dated her and I was only a little upset about her barely acknowledging my presence down on the planet.

"I was hoping you would be able to enlighten me as to why she is reacting this way to what happened on Horizon" Thane requested.

Human interactions were likely to be somewhat of a mystery to him. Humans didn't have much contact with the drell. Until 2 years ago we'd not had much to do with the quarians either.

"They seemed close" commented Thane. "I have no right to pry, but was the Commander involved with her".

I chuckled.

"No they were never romantically involved" I told Thane "Ash and I were, but we weren't close, not in love. Actually I didn't think Shepard and Ash we're that close either, but they might have bonded at some point. Ashley was part of the crew of the first Normandy just like me and Garrus. We both joined Shepard despite it meaning that we'd have to work with Cerberus, Ashley refused too".

Which could work out well for me since it looked as if Miranda was going to become a member of my harem. Assuming Tali didn't go nuts about it and shoot her.

"Ashley's rejection of Shepard is most likely causing the Commander to question the choices she's made recently, she'll need time to process everything, and she needs to reassure herself that she has made the right choice" I told Thane "That would be why she has gone into seclusion".

Thane nodded.

"I see" said the assassin "Thank you for explaining. I will pray to Arashu in the hopes that the goddess will guide her".

This puzzled me.

"Isn't she the goddess of Motherhood and Protection?" I asked.

Thane blinked, it may have been in surprise.

"Ah, I see you are somewhat familiar with my gods," he said "Arashu offers guidance and protection to all women, just as our mothers offer us guidance and protection".

Thane then moved to leave.

"Excuse me" he said "I will begin my prayers".

Well hopefully Arashu was in a giving mood.


	11. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Tali

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 11  
**

 **Tali**

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

The shuttle landed on the surface of Haestrom and for once I was the first out of the shuttle. My eagerness was due to knowing just how much trouble Tali was in, but I didn't race off as that would simply result in getting myself killed. Granted for me that would simply mean a game over, but I wanted to save my quarian friend.

I took out my rifle and then spent just a moment looking at everyone else as they pulled out their weapons. Miranda was going to with the submachine gun she so often favoured. Thane had his sniper rifle ready for action, and Garrus seemed eager to make use of his assault rifle. Shepard was also using a rifle. Jack as ever went with a shotgun, as did Grunt.

As soon as I stepped out into the sunlight, I heared some beeping as my shields rapidly went down, knowing the danger I walked back into the shade, and the beeping stopped.

"We'll have to stay in the shade here. Be careful" Shepard warned.

Quickly we all moved to find a route less exposed to the light of the local star.

"You know I'm never going to let Tali live this down," Garrus said with a chuckle "Every quarian I've met over the last two years always goes on about how Tali defeated the Geth at the Citadel and now here we are rescuing her from a bunch of Geth".

I doubted Tali went around telling people that she'd saved the Citadel all about herself. I remembered her being very humble about the whole thing. But the quarians hadn't had much to be proud of in the last couple of centuries so I didn't blame them for praising Tali so much.

"Laugh it up Vakarian" Zeead was now saying "we're the poor sods who have to fight our way through them to get to her".

Shepard cleared her throat.

"Remember everyone that our priority is Tali'Zorah" she said "Everything else is secondary to that. But if we can we'll save the rest of the group just like the message requested".

Hold on I was confused now. I knew we'd gotten a distress call from here, but I'd assumed that Cerberus had overheard a message meant for the Migrant Fleet. However it sounded as if someone had called Cerberus to ask for aid.

"Wait, I thought Cerberus and the Quarians weren't exactly BFF's" I said "So why are the quarians asking us or aid.

"They didn't," Shepard told me "The message was sent to a Cerberus listening post just outside the Veil".

Oh really. That made me wonder if Legion was about. Tali would freak, if she found out that she got saved from the Geth by a Geth, but on the upside maybe things would work out better if she knew. Maybe and Legion will be able to work together for the greater good. A guy could hope.

However before I started working towards inter species unity we had to get passed this door.

"Someone sealed this door, Gothic, can you do anything?" Shepard asked.

Sentinel to the rescue.

"Hack a three-hundred year-old door lock" I said "Sure why not".

Cortana did just that, and without anyone noticing that she was an AI. Best perk ever.

"Got a body over here!" Garrus called out as went passed the now lowered barrier "Wounds were caused by a Geth pulse rifle".

We'd seen enough victims of the Geth to no one when we saw one. However I was more concerned with the dead Geth. They'd not destroyed their hardware platforms. Several of them were about so I figured the quarian marine here had gone down fighting.

I picked up a pulse rifle and inspected it. This model was different, more streamlined.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that we're looking at upgraded weaponry" I observed.

To be sure I scanned the weapon with my omni-tool. I doubted I'd be able to get this model into my warehouse, but I could attempt to replicate the design at some later date when I had access to more advanced tech.

"Can you make it work?" Shepard asked "Even the Alliance can't completely replicate Geth weaponry, and its better than anything we have".

That was true. While back engineering Geth tech had led to improved weapons for the Alliance, and others. No one had ever been able to create their own version of a pulse rifle.

"Shouldn't be too hard" I replied.

"Just make it fast" the commander ordered.

Which Cortana did. She interfaced with the weapon, and got it working in short order.

"Gothic you'll let me know when the Geth make a decent sniper rifle, right?" Garrus requested.

"What, and separate you from your precious M-92 Mantis?" I said while giving the recovered pulse weapon to Shepard "I would never do that".

There was no more time for kidding around, we had to get moving.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

We advanced down the path, and before long we came across another dead quairan marine. Shepard reached and picked up a radio of some sort, and as soon as she did, a voice started talking rather frantically. Once the talking was done the Spectre used the device.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy, and we're here to help" she said to whoever was yelling over the comm device "Can anyone hear me?".

There was silence on the other end for a few moments.

"Commander Shepard?" asked a familiar voice "Kal'Reegar vas Rayya, quarian marines. It's good you came when you did. We're taking a beating here!"

I knew Kal'Reegar, he was a shipmates of Tali's.

"What's your status?" Shepard

"Things just went to hell," replied Kal'Reeger, his voice hard to her over the gunfire on his end "We were on a special ops mission. High risk. I don't really know the specifics, I'm just here to shoot stuff. Things went bad when a drop ship came down on us and started raining geth. We've been fighting these damn machines ever since. We've taken heavy casualties. There are other squads, but I haven't heard from most of them in a while. They sent another drop ship over to where Tali is, and she needs back"

"Is Tali safe?" asked Shepard.

Sounded as if I wasn't the only one who was worried. I imagined that after Ashley's rejection that the Commander really didn't want to lose another friend.

"She's fine," replied the marine. "She's holed up for now, but I don't know how long she'll be able to keep them out. Our job is to protect her and the data she's gathered. If Tali dies this was all for nothing. But we can't access our ship, and we can't transmit the data through this radiation, so someone needs to get her off this damn planet

"Sit tight, Kal'Reegar," Shepard instructed "We'll be with you as soon as we can, keep us updated as much as possible".

We were already moving out.

"Yeah, of course," said the marine. "Tune your comm channels to 617 Theta".

Cortana took care of that for me I suddenly I could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from over the radio.

"Okay, we're tuned in," said Shepard. "And we're on our way"

Soon I saw what I could only describe as a war zone, squads of Geth and quarians were behind cover, and they were all trading fire with each other. Geth didn't normally care if their mobile platforms got damaged, they were easy to replace, and the programs that actually were the Geth would simply upload out of a damaged platform. I spent just a moment wondering if the radiation would prevent that, and that was why the Geth were trying to limit the damage done to their platforms.

Then I heared that strange robotic dialogue, and the patch Tali created for me back on the first Normandy let me know that a cloaked Geth was on its way. I pointed my rifle at the geth and fired a few shots. Just enough to expose the machine by disrupting the cloak, it was quickly finished off by a sniper shot from Thane, he was a scary good shot.

I was now shooting at another geth after I'd come out from behind a big block of stone I was using as cover, this geth platform was one of those pryo Geths so Cortana advised me to use an overload, which I did and his caused the platform to explode.

We soon took down the last of the geth troopers that had just tried to kill us, and because of this we were able to advance. Soon we would be part of the fun going on in that war zone.

"Gothic tend to that quarian" Shepard ordered.

I'd not noticed before but there was a quarian female lying behind a fallen pillar.

"You okay?" I asked "Any suit ruptures?"

The quarian started to stand up.

"I'm fine, I feel fine. I lost my shields and the Geth..." she said. "I thought I was dead for a second. If you hadn't come..."

She took a deep breath.

"Ina'Mia vas Rayya. I'm with the Migrant Fleet marines and Kal'Reegar's second in command on this mission" she told me.

Since Tali knew that this mission would go pear shaped she must have asked for a bigger escort. I was sure she would have prevented the mission if possible, but if the admirals hadn't listened to her about that then she would have insisted on a bigger team.

"I'm Gothic vas Normandy" I replied "Assuming I'm saying that right".

"Gothic?" the quarian asked "So you must be with Commander Shepard, the human who help Tali save the Citadel".

I just nodded.

"Its good you are here" the quarian was now saying "We could really use the help right now. We're getting hammered by the geth."

"So we noticed," I commented, before changing the subject "My team is going to find Tali and save anyone we can".

Shepard was good at this sort of thing. I'd leave it in her hands.

"So she's still alive," said Ina "Good. Our sacrifices weren't in vain"

She then stood up straight.

"We need to go help Kal. If we do that, we may be able to get Tali and the data off this damn planet".

I smiled.

"Don't worry" I assured he quarian "My team is good at killing Geth. We used to do it all the time back when Tali was with us".

The quarian chuckled as she checked her weapon.

"I know Tali tells the best stories about her human friends" she said.

"Oh, so she talks about me?" I asked.

"All the time" Ina'Mia answered "You know, girl talk".

Yeah I didn't want to know.

"Let's get going" I said.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

I watched as a Geth Dropship soared overhead heading towards where Shepard's team was cutting a swath of destruction through the Geth's lines. We'd separated, so right now I was some distance away from Shepard along with Miranda, and Thane. The drell had his sniper rifle out and was picking off targets. The quarain I'd aided earlier had rejoined a squad of her people.

"It would appear that Shepard's team has drawn the Geth's attention," Thane observed "But a group of the machines are heading this way. We've divided their forces".

Good that should take the pressure off the quarian marines.

"Then it's up to us to take advantage of the situation," Miranda said. "Now how do we take those Geth down?"

Given how smart she was she had to have a plan.

"You're the XO" I said to her "Plans are your department".

Miranda smiled, obviously pleased that I was letting her take the lead. She might not get much of a chance to do that once she was one of my companions. She might count as one already, but you simply didn't make such a extreme commitment with time to think it over, and without giving yourself time to adjust. Not that women tended to join harems, but the people I worked with were never exactly normal.

"We have experts in tech and biotics" Miranda was now saying "Between us, we should be able to make short work of those platforms. Well use heavy weapons if they start coming at us with greater numbers... wait who has the Projector".

Oh dear.

"The Arc Projector" I said with a grimace "I gave that to Shepard".

Miranda frowned, and then shot a geth to make herself feel better.

"Someday, I trust that you'll tell me how you managed to get your hands on a prototype Cerberus weapon, we hadn't even tested it yet"

Yeah that had been a fun bit of looting.

"Well, you know how it is" I said, once I'd also destroyed a hardware platform that been trying to sneak up on us while using a cloaking device "One day you're just wandering around the Terminus Systems and suddenly you come across a Cerberus facility. No one was home so I did a little salvaging".

It was worrying how many Cerberus bases got wiped out by some creature that then escaped.

"The things you guys just leave lying around. Data logs, cutting-edge technology, credits" I then said.

"I've had similar experiences," Thane informed us.

A Geth with a large tank its back opened fire with its own weapon. A thick stream of flame vomited forth and seared the air. Then it exploded thanks to an overload. I was glad I'd upgraded my omni-tool yet again.

After that there was no more time for talk as we now to destroy a lot of hardware platforms, all of which had decided to try to kill us. Which was rude.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

At some point we'd found a way to Tali, or at least closer to Tali. I wasn't really sure how. Any kind of plan we'd had got chucked out the window some time ago. We were suppose to be watching the backs of Shepard's team, but we'd gotten separated yet again in all the chaos.

We'd just found two Quarian marines who were pinned down by a heck of a lot of Geth. We quickly came to their aid, and destroyed some more mobile hardware platforms, which result in a short break in the fighting.

"Are you two with the Migrant Fleet Marines?" Lawson demanded to know.

Silly question really since even the Admiralty Board didn't send civilians on missions like this, however Miranda didn't know much about quarians.

"We got separated from our unit," one of them reported "We saw a shuttle landing, was that you?"

"Yes, we're here to try and get to Tali'Zorah vas Neema, can you help us?" I said.

The other Quarian was less helpful.

"Why would we help Cerberus?" he asked.

Normally a valid question, but again a rather silly at this point.

"Shut up, Prazza," his companion snapped, before turning to address me "Don't pay any attention to this bosh'tet, we'll take all the help we can get".

Wise of him.

"Prazza?" Miranda mused aloud. "Weren't you at Freedom's Progress?".

"I don't remember you," Prazza replied.

"You wouldn't" said Miranda "But I heard you led your team to a slaughter".

I'd not been there, but from what I remembered of the Mass Effect 2 game that sounded right.

"That wasn't my fault," Prazza stated "Veetor messed with those mechs, they were much more dangerous than they should have been".

No what had actually happened that this moron had charged ahead with his squad right into the gun sights of a heavy mech.

"We had a three person team on the ground and they dealt with the mechs just fine" Miranda said.

"Prazza, you said Tali'Zorah was lying about that!" the other marine yelled "A human really had to rescue a squad of Quarian Marines from simple mechs?, and its your fault. I should shoot you".

Now wasn't the time for that.

"I'd say it's what he deserves for trying to betray Commander Shepard after she offered to work with him to save Veetor" Miranda told the nice suited alien. .

"I was just worried for Veetor," Prazza said with a huff. "You Cerberus bastards might've hurt him or taken him away somewhere."

To be fair Miranda had wanted to take him away. Or at least she did in the game.

"I'm with Commander Shepard. She's here trying to rescue Tali" Miranda sad, changing the subject.

"That bosh'tet Shepard is here?" Prazza groaned. "Ancestors, that's all we needed"

Prazza could get himself shot at this rate.

"That bosh'tet" I said angerly "might be your only hope of getting off this planet alive"

"The Commander's looking for Tali'Zorah. Do you know where she is?" Miranda asked.

"Sure the Admiral's daughter is on the other side of the colony" the not an ass hole quarian told us "Reegar's team was trying to get her into the Observatory before we lost contact".

This was when Reegar spoke to us over the radio,

"Prazza, Tol, where the hell are you two?" a male voice bellowed.

"We're here, squad leader, we're still alive," Tol answered.

"Thank the Ancestors" was the reply.

"You okay out there, Reegar?" I asked

There was a pause.

"Gothic? is that you?" Reegar wondered.

"Yeah I'm on Shepard team" I told him "She'll stop the Geth".

I knew Reegar from my time spent on the Migrant Fleet.

"Look, I've been a marine too long not know battlefield tall tales when I hear them, but right now my people are scattered and Tali'Zorah is trapped in that damn observatory, and this place is crawling with Geth that want to kill us all. If your Shepard can get Tali'Zorah out of here alive, then I'll go to my grave telling everyone that she was sent by the Ancestors themselves to save us".

"If we do our jobs, you won't go to your grave for a while yet," I replied. "Have you heard from Shepard's team?".

Hopefully they'd been in contact.

"No but I've heard some big explosions, like someone was fighting the damn Geth Uprising all over again! Whatever your Shepard's doing, it's sure getting some attention".

"That'll be Shepard, she must be hip deep in Geth," Miranda mused.

Yeah it did sound like her.

"We need to link up" I said to Kal'Reegar while checking my omni-tool.

Cortana was tracking his signal for me.

"What about Tali?" I asked.

"They're still trying to reach Tali'Zorah. I'm cut off from her, but I'm doing what I can to keep 'em distracted" Reegar told us.

"Speed is our ally now," Thane murmured. "We'd best hurry if we're to reach your Quarian friend in time".

He was right.

"Everyone follow me" I instructed.

Prazza laughed

"Are you joking? I'm not going anywhere with Tali'Zorah's human terrorist friends."

I ignored him.

"Tol, what about you?" I asked.

The quarian nodded.

"I'll come with you," he offered "Tali'Zorah's always done right by me. I won't leave her to these damn synthetics"

Good man.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

"A centuries old still working computer that allows for site-to-site communications" I said as I activated a centuries old machines "These quarians sure know how to build".

Soon the system came online.

"Hello? Hello out there? Tali, you there?" I said.

There was a burst of white noise before a holographic display flared to life, revealing a familiar hooded helmet.

"Gothic?" Tali replied. "Is that you?"

I couldn't help smiling upon seeing her again. I'd not realised how much I'd missed her until now.

"Yes its me" I confirmed "I'm here with a team that's trying to get to you. Shepard is kicking Geth behind at the moment so she can't come to the space phone".

She was used to me saying odd things so she didn't get distracted by my strangeness.

"You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice," Tali said "Are any of my people still alive".

I nodded.

"Reegar is around somewhere" I informed the quarian "And we ran into Prazza and Tol not too long ago. Prazza wouldn't come with us, but Tol is here. We ran into more quarians earlier, but I don't know if they're still alive or not. Its a real clusterfuck around here".

"Reegar's still alive?" Tali said, sounding very relieved. "Thank the Ancestors, and I always liked Tol".

Prazza was an ass hole so no one cared if he was still alive or not.

"One of my team got me into the Observatory but took a bad hit. I think he's dying" Tali was now telling me.

Bloody stupidly Admiralty board. They should have sent more soldiers.

"Tali, listen to me. Shepard's here, Garrus is here, I'm here, we're going to get to you" I assured my friend.

"You came all this way, just to find me?" she asked.

I could hear the emotion choking up Tali's voice.

"Of course, we came out here to find you" I said "We have a mission, and Shepard put me in charge of engineering, you can imagine how well that's going. I'm no Tali'Zorah".

Well it wasn't going that badly, but I'd not been able to make any improvements. When it came to machines I was much better at making mods for weapons and armour than suping up star ships.

"Kee'lah, Shepard put you in charge of the engines!" Tali called out "Is the Normandy flying backwards?".

"Hey, I'm not that bad," I said defensively.

"If you two could focus!" Miranda shouted out.

"Who's she?" Tali wished to know.

Yeah that was going to be fun to explain later. I really hoped the two of them learned to get along or I might end up with no harem at all. That wouldn't have bothered me not so long ago, but now the idea of having attractive, talented and powerful women at my command was kinda cool.

"Never mind her" I said "We came to recruit you".

"There's this little matter of a planet full of Geth that I have to get past first," she said dryly.

"You know, Garrus is never going to let you live this down," I said while, smirking. "Us having to rescue you from Geth, I mean, but first things first, there's a sealed door between us. Can you get it open. I've tried on my end but the controls have been fused".

"Give me a second… rerouting power… and here… we… go!"

There was a distinctive click and I saw the door swing open.

"Gothic, please hurry" Tali requested "I don't know how much longer Jor is going to last and there are Geth right outside the door".

I could hear some banging.

"We're on our way, Tali. Shepard won't leave you behind. Count on it" I said "I'm on my way now".

I didn't even wait to see if anyone followed me, but thankfully they did.

"She's cute I guess" Miranda commented.

I was not looking forward to them meeting.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

Upon approaching the plaza separating us from Tali, I noticed Reegar who was currently cradling a ML-77 rocket launcher. The Quarian Marine upon seeing us raised his weapon, but then lowered it.

"Gothic is that woman with Cerberus?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Its a very long story" I told him "But she's here to resource Tali just like the rest of us".

"You know, ordinarily I'd have a whole crap load of problems with Cerberus being here" the Quarian Marine yelled over the gunfire "But I'll let it go this time".

By now the whole team had spread themselves along the metal panels that continued to rattle with each tiny bullet that struck it.

"But between getting my ass shot at, losing my whole team, and maybe the only reason we ever came to this Ancestor-forsaken rock in the first place, I've had THE worst day of my life!" the quarian shouted "So if a Cerberus agent of all things wants to save my people and get us the Hell off this rock then I say 'thank the Ancestors' and all that good stuff!".

Reegar then opened fire with his heavy weapon, and I noticed that Thane was moving away from us. No doubt to get somewhere he could better cover us with his sniper rifle.

"Tali'Zorah is across the plaza and inside the observatory!" Reegar bellowed "Tali sealed herself inside along with one of my guys. He managed to get her in there, but I haven't heard from them since!"

This was when Colossus fired another pulse blast in our direction and everyone took cover. A moment later Reegar came out of hiding and fired the rocket launcher again. The explosive round streaked across the plaza, exploding against the Colossus chassis. Only the big Geth didn't blow up.

"Every time I score a hit, it huddles up and fixes itself! I can't get a clear shot at it when it's down like that, and those Geth don't exactly make it easy for me to keep firing!" Reegar yelled.

I poked my head out and the Colossus fired a pulse blast at me Astonishingly, the shot actually seemed to change course, veering toward me as if being guided. Thankfully I still had plenty of cover, whatever this metal thing was that we were hiding behind it had been built really well. Quarian made of course.

"Guided weapons blasts?!" I yelled "How long have they had THAT feature?!"

That was new.

"So how are we gonna get to Tali?" Reegar asked.

Good question.

"I wish Shepard was here" I said.

That was when not only Shepard appeared but also Garrus, they were soon followed my Grunt as well as Jack.

"I wish for the powers of a Q" I then said.

Alas that didn't work. I clicked my fingers and the Geth didn't simply vanish.

"My kill-counts through the roof," the former vigilante told me as he and Shepard got behind cover "I think that I've blown away more Geth today than during our entire hunt for Saren".

Cool beans.

"You still good to fight, Squad Leader?" Shepard asked Reegar.

He nodded.

"Bastards punched a hole through my suit, but I can still pull a trigger," he said with a nod "But its that big bastard you should worry about. It's got a repair protocol As long as it's got Geth troops to act as a distraction and draw enemy fire, then it has a chance to fix any damage that we do from afar".

Quickly Shepard came up with a plan. I didn't like it because I'd have to hand over the cool Collector energy weapon that I'd just gotten back from Mordin.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

"Ancestors," Tali heard Jor say with a gasp "I've never… I've never seen anything like…"

It wasn't just what they were seeing on the monitors that had Jor out of breathe. He was wounded, and his chest was sickly.

"Hold on," Tail whispered, moving to kneel down beside Jor "Shepard's coming".

She turned to the monitor for a moment, and then the young Quarian saw her, Shepard was leading a charge through the Geth lines and the organic side was winning.

"Ancestors," Jor said with a rasp "Is that Shepard?".

No one else could be both crazy and skilled enough to charge through Geth formations and survive.

"I told you they'd come," Tali said in a whisper "I told you."

On the monitor Shepard ran across the field, firing blasts from some sort of heavy weapon, it was like nothing Tali had ever seen before. A kind of energy weapon. Normally the quarian would be very interested in finding out more about such a device, but right now she had other matters on her mind.

"Sounds like…" Jor said with a wheeze, coughing violently, "…a sniper rifle".

Of course it was a sniper rifle. Garrus would be there giving Shepard covering fire. Even the Commander needed covering fire.

"Garrus, you big, beautiful bosh'tet" Tali murmured.

Then there was an explosion that rocked the whole room. The tank sized Geth just outside the door must have just gone boom.

"She did it," Jor said in shock "Ancestors, I didn't…"

He coughed.

"Didn't think it was… but she did it…" the dying Marine gurgled. "She took down a Colossus…"

"You should've seen us on Feros" Tali said to her friend, while watching the screens as familiar faces and several strangers began to clean up the remaining Geth "We took on a massive plant monster that day, and it made a whole army of zombies, like right out a movie, but they never stood a chance".

That had been one of things you had to see in order to believe.

"Prazza" Jor said, "He told us that you and your human friends being that strong… all lies, he said… but it's all true… isn't it?"

Well they weren't all humans his time, and hadn't been back then. There was even a drell with the commander this time.

"It's all true" Tali promised the quarian marine "They came to save us. We're going home".

Jor coughed some more and then he stopped moving. Tali'Zorah scanned the other quarian and found that his life signs did not long registered.

Even though the Migrant Fleet generally saw her as a hero these days, especially since more Quarians were finding life beyond the Migrant Fleet a little easier, she didn't feel like one at all right now. She hadn't been able to save Jor, or any of the rest of the team.

"Hey, Tali, let us in, the door's jammed!" shouted a familiar voice.

Getting to her feet quickly, she made for the door controls.

"Give me a second, Shepard," she called out, while trying not to think about the body on the floor behind her "I had to jam the door to keep the Geth out. Reversing everything shouldn't take more than a second or two".

Soon she had the door opened, and she was surprised to find that at least two of her fellow Quarians were still alive.

"Tol, Reegar, you're alive," the Quarian mechanic whispered in relief.

The Migrant Fleet Marine smiled under his mask, but no one knew that.

"Damn Colossus never stood a chance. Your old Commander's amazing" Reegar.

Tol agreed.

"I've never seen anything like it" he said "Oh and Prazza is still alive".

Tali didn't care about him.

(Line Break)

 **Quarian Colony. Haestrom.**

"Just like old times" Tali said as she began rapping up her work here "Only this time instead of keeping you all out of trouble I'm playing damsel in distress to the knights in shining armour".

I didn't recall her keeping the rest of us out of trouble, but she might remember it differently and I was sure that her tech skills must have dealt with problems I'd never even known about.

"It must have been a total nightmare here" I said to her.

"At least not everyone in my squad died" she replied "And there are more survivors scattered about".

Shepard had indeed done a good job in keeping them alive.

"It's good to see you're alive, Tali'Zorah," said Tol with a curt nod. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, Tol" she replied, with a nod of her.

She then turned to the team that had come in to save her.

"Thank you" she said "I guess you are all owed an explanation as to why you had to come here".

Tali then brought up a hologram which showed the local star.

"We were taking readings on Haestrom's sun," she explained "This system's sun is dying, far faster than it should. We were sent to take readings of it to determine the cause".

"What did you find?" asked Shepard.

"We think it may be dark energy within the sun," she answered "No sun should be dying this quickly, we think it has to do with dark energy, but I'm an engineer not a scientists, its going to take someone with a lot more knowledge of physics than me to figure this out".

While dying suns were a concern none of us were qualified to do anything about it.

"Well, you've finished your mission," Shepard said "Are you free to join us".

Tali nodded.

"Yes," she then said "I'll be able to assist you on the ship, Shepard. Ancestors know what Gothic has done to the engines".

I'd done nothing. Shepard was the one ordering all the upgrades.

"So you're not coming back to the Fleet?" Tol asked.

"No" she replied "You and Reegar can take the data, and the tech samples I prepared. They are boxed up and ready to go".

Tali then turned to Shepard.

"I'd like to have a moment alone with Gothic, if you don't mind" she requested "Why don't go have look at some of the Geth tech I salvaged. I found some weapons you might like. Just leave the boxed up stuff alone, that's for a project of my fathers".

Shepard simply nodded upon hearing this, before gesturing to the team.

"All right," she said "Come on, everyone. There's nothing more to see here".

Before they were even all gone I was getting hugged.

"It's good to see you again, Tali," I said "A lot's happened since we last talked".

"I can see that," she replied "I received your messages, and those from Liara too, but recently I couldn't risk sending any replies".

Understandable given that she'd been behind enemy lines.

"What about your father's project" I asked, once we had stopped hugging "Any chance he listened you".

Tali looked down at the ground.

"Maybe" she answered "But I doubt it. I spoke to my Auntie Raan, she's one of the few people who can get my father to back down, but when he's made a choice he normally sticks by it. Maybe he'll be more careful, but I don't have high hopes. Truth be told he's not been acting like a father for a while now, he's my superior officer nothing else".

Ouch.

"So this new Normandy?" Tali asked, no doubt wanting to change the subject "What's her engine room like?".

Oh she was going to love it. The engine at least.

(Line Break)

 **Briefing Room. Normandy.**

"Don't forget to introduce yourself to EDI, the ship's AI" said Jacob

I'd forgotten about this bit.

"This ship has an AI?" she asked me.

"It's a Cerberus vessel," I reminded her as we left the briefing room, so that Shepard could explain the meaning of tact to Jacob "They don't care about intergalactic laws and common sense "But don't worry, EDI isn't like your average AI. She's not out to kill us all, at any rate. It's an improvement over most AI's I know, trust me".

The Cortana AI which lived inside my omni-tool was even descended from an AI that had tried to kill me.

"They do have appropriate measures to keep her from going rogue" I was now telling Tali "EDI is a shackled AI".

Given that I had no intention of letting the crew be taken by the Collectors it seemed unlikely that EDI would be unshackled. And because she under Cerberus control I'd not exposed Cortana to the ship's AI.

"That doesn't mean I'll trust it," replied Tali "if it does something that threatens us".

I left this subject alone with that. One day I'd have Tali and Cortana sit and talk to each other, but that wouldn't be today.

"So want to meet the new people?" I asked the quarian.

She nodded as we approached the door to the CIC.

"Of course," she says. "Lead the way".

I did just that and took us to what passed for a bridge on this ship. Soon I was showing her the galaxy map, which I would soon get to use since Shepard was moving me up to he CIC now that Tali could take my place down in engineering. I had the horrible feeling Shepard was going to leave me here in the CIC on future missions so I could perform over watch on mission, which EDI could do and Miranda was suppose to be doing.

"Um, excuse me?" someone said.

I turned to the human woman who was always hanging around close to the galaxy map.

"You must be Tali" the Cerberus lady said.

At this point I spent a moment wondering if Shepard wanted me in CIC so that someone was around to keep Miss Chambers distracted.

"This is Kelly Chambers our ship's yeoman. And the ship's psychiatrist" I told Tali.

Like a Yeoman in the United States navy. Yeomans in this day and age dealt with administrative and clerical work. Which involved matters such as, letters, notices, directives, forms and reports, as well as appointments.

"Psychiatrist?" asked Tali, while looking over at me "This ship has a psychiatrist?"

Kelly nodded upon hearing this.

"It helps to keep tabs on how the crew is doing" Kelly explained "And if anyone needs to vent off a little steam I can help them. So are you two a couple".

I hadn't expected that question.

"Yes" said Tali "He's my boyfriend".

This was news to me, and it made Kelly giggle.

"Oh before I forget Operative Lawson wishes to speak with you Miss Zorah".

I'd been dreading this, but there was no sense putting it off.

(Line Break)

Lower Deck. The Normandy.

Well that had gone better than expected. Tali had been in Miranda's office for a while, and when she gotten out she didn't try to kill me or anything, which was nice. Now we were heading for engineering so that Tali could see her work space.

When we entered the room I saw Ken shift slightly as he noticed Tali's presence.

"Oh?" he said "I'm assuming this is our new chief engineer?".

"How'd you know she was coming?" I asked.

"EDI mentioned something about seeing a quarian engineer down here in the near future," Gabby told us "and that she'd be taking charge".

Tali moved over to the two humans.

"I take it you're the Cerberus engineers?" she asked.

Given how many Cerberus employees we'd kill back in the day I wondered if Tali was tempted now to whip out the shotgun she carried so that she could blow them both away.

"That we are, ma'am" Gabby said while saluting "Engineer Gabriella Daniels. You can call me Gabby, though. And this is Kenneth Donnely, well just call him Ken".

"A pleasure, Gabby," replied Tali as she shook Gabby's hand.

Okay then, no shooting. That was good.

"The pleasure's all ours, Tali," replied Ken as he extended his hands out and shook the quarian's hand as well. "It'll be nice to work with someone who is familiar with the Normandy's drive system, our last boss had no idea what he was doing".

I sighed.

"You know I paid for those FDA couplings out of my own money" I said to them.

I was ignored.

"On the first Normandy it took several engineers to keep the ship running," Tail said to the humans "So since we only have you two and myself, I'm expecting you to work hard".

She then turned to me.

"And I'll be dragging you down here if we need an extra pair of hands" she added, before turning back to address the two humans "I'll be back soon, and you can show me how you have everything running so smoothly".

With that we headed out since the tour wasn't over.

"They seem like good company" Tail commented.

I'd not been annoyed by them.

"They are," I replied. "And they're also some of the best engineers in Cerberus, it seems. And not xenophobic, which is a plus"

The quarian nodded.

"That it is nice," she agreed. "So is there anyone else on this deck you'd like to introduce me to?"

I considered this.

"Well, there's Jack down in the little hidey-hole, but she's basically a mass murderer" I said.

And I'd fucked her that one time. I doubted Jack would mention anything, as she didn't care, but there was no sense tempting fate.

"Zeead is errr... well stay away from him" I went on to say "Grunt is also down here, but he doesn't like me, and he's dangerous. Thane is an assassin, and its suddenly striking me that the Cerberus people on this ship are the friendly ones. That's really odd".

Tali nodded in agreement.

"Well Garrus is nice" she said "I can talk to him if your busy. Now is there somewhere on this ship we can go for some private time. We have things to talk about".

Yeah I imagined that we did, and the observation lounge was free. I imagined after what had happened on Haestrom she'd need some cuddles too.


	12. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Samara

**Author Note**

Possible list of Jumps

Jump 1 - Mass Effect

(Tali'Zorah and Miranda Lawson join the Jump Chain. Tali wants new technology to help her people rebuild their home world and Miranda does it so she can protect her sister. Reapers are defeated ending the jump early. Jump Chain adds the The Bay supplement as a bonus allowing for the easy storage, repair and refuelling of vehicles)

Jump 2 - Terminator 3

(Cortana, a Mass Effect AI easily destroys Skynet before it can infect the Internet, and Cortana leaves a copy of herself in the Internet to prevent any other AI from accessing nuclear weapons, as such the Jump ends very quickly, Gothic is awarded a Cameron Phillips model terminator as a bonus)

Jump 3 - Harry Potter

(Gothic attends a more lewd and adult version of Hogwarts called Hogwarts university and has a good time. Learns magic and in later years aids local version of Harry Potter in defeating Voldemort again ending the jump early. One or more witches join the group. Jump Chan adds the Arena Supplement for training purposes)

Jump 4 - Star Trek Voyager

(Gothic and co join the crew of the USS Voyager in order to obtain new technology and explore a new universe. Voyager returns to Earth before ten years pass. Seven of Nine joins in with the Jumping so that she work towards her own perfection. Jump Chan makes available the Space Dock Add-on)

Jump 5 - Stars Wars: KOTOR

(Gothic learns about the Force and acquires more tech as well as his own star ship. Group spends the full ten years in this galaxy having adventures and becoming more powerful. The Evolving House System Jumpchain Supplement is added so Gothic can take the crew of his new ship with him without having to worry about sticking them all is stasis pods)

Jump 6 - Elder Scrolls

(A chance to learn more magic while access to the Cosmic Warehouse allows for a comfortable standard of living. Enchanted items are a must since everyone is going to need enhanced intelligence by this point. Magical adventures as well. Greenhouse Supplement added allowing for the growing of magical plants needed for potions)

Jump 7 - Stargate Atlantis

(Even more tech up for grabs, a chance to upgrade the ship, maybe get Doctor Keller into the harem. Wraith are defeated. Bonus, a lab added to the warehouse)

More Jumps to come.

End Jump - Warhammer 40k

(Scary times ahead)

 **Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 12**

 **Justicar**

 **Port. Illium.**

A concierge greeted us as Garrus, Tali, Shepard and I disembarked the Normandy. She informed the Commander that once again Liara had paid all fees and that she had requested to see Shepard at her earliest convenience. I wondered what had happened to that uncover cop lady, but the concierge just told me that even on Illium people get days off.

"It is beautiful" I heard Tali say as we made our way out of the dock and onto the trading floor "The Asari never let the flotilla visit this planet, they make us stop almost a light hour away. It is the greatest planet in the galaxy, if you can afford it, and I guess they don't want to spoil that by allowing a load of quarians to visit"

The bitterness in Tali's voice snapped me out of my reverie and I looked at her. She was leaning on a nearby railing looking at the city's gleaming skyline. I couldn't see her face, but her shoulders were slumped and the perky energy she was normally filled with seemed to be gone. Garrus was closer than I was and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"That is their loss, Tali" he said kindly.

It was nice to see the turian making more of an effort to talk with the quarian. We'd all been close on the first Normandy by the end but those two hadn't spoken much.

"I know" Tali replied as she pushed herself off the railing. "There is just so much here that could help my people, and we aren't allowed to try to buy it".

Maybe I could do something about that.

"Well Fuck'em." I said and they both turned to look at me. "Most of the asari that make policy here are centuries old, and on top of that they are stupidly rich. Those kinds of people are always jerks. Try not to let their opinions get to you Tali. If stuck up old ass holes have stupid opinions then its their problem, not yours".

I wasn't in a good mood tonight. Maybe Ash had upset me more than I realised.

"Those stupid opinions are cutting us off from resources that could really help my people" she argued.

She sounded more irritated than actually upset.

"Then we'll get those resources another way" I said.

"And how exactly do you suggest we do that?" she asked,

I gave it some thought.

"We could try to set up a contract with a broker here. If the asari won't let the flotilla come here, then we will just have to set up a way to bring Illium's resources to the flotilla" I said.

Tali sighed.

"We have tried that. All of the brokers willing to work on our behalf here charge exorbitant rates, and then double them once they find out they are working for quarians" she told me.

Now she really did sound bitter.

"Then we'll do it through Liara" I said "No one will refuse a powerful information deal like her, and we can arrange for goods to be transported to a neutral site and from there agents from the Migrant fleet can pick up the goods".

Tali was silent for a bit then nodded.

"It's a start" she said "And maybe all this really does is save us some credits; but on the scale we are talking that will actually mean something. Thank you Gothic".

I smiled.

"Come on we can go see Liara right now" I suggested to Tali "And I've got more than enough credits to...".

Shepard raised a hand.

"Actually can that wait" she asked "I need to talk to Liara alone, and Garrus you need to make sure our new guns get installed. Gothic why don't you take Tali out somewhere nice. I'll call you if I need your help with anything".

She'd need me before too long, she always did, but if I could spend some quality time with Tali, that was all the better.

(Line Break)

 **Cosmic Warehouse. Outside Of Reality.**

It was so weird to have both Tali'Zorah and Miranda Lawson inside the warehouse at the same time, but here they were, both working and talking to each other as they we sorted out more of the stuff Miranda had decided that we would need to take with us.

"Why do you need so many outfits?" I heard Tali enquire of Miranda.

Miss Lawson lifted a nurse's uniform out of the box so she could inspect it. I couldn't help picturing her it, and this was distracting.

"Assuming everything goes well this Jump Chain can last around ninety years, maybe more" Miranda said "Now we won't age much because we'll get new bodies or go into stasis, but we'll still all be together for many years and I don't want Gothic to get bored of me. So outfits, they spice things up".

Miranda sure did think ahead, her intelligence and foresight were impressive.

"Plus I'll need outfits for different jumps" she went on to say "Like 20th Century clothing".

As for me, I'd simply planned to buy things as needed.

"I've also been looking a Jumps for where we can go next" Miranda was now saying "I still think Terminator will work out. I'll be easy to prevent Skynet from ever destroying the human race, and the perks for that jump would benefit you a lot. We could leave that Jump pretty quickly if we activate and ac hive the victory setting".

"Skynet?" Tali asked.

"A rogue AI that uses Earth stockpile of nuclear weapons to bring about the end of the world" I told her "Imagine the Geth uprising if you hadn't had ships to flee in".

Tali swore, and I realised that defeating Skynet should be simple if I arrived in that universe around about the time of Terminator 3 and set Cortana lose on the net. Being centuries more advanced than Skynet she'd easily destroy the rogue AI.

"So yeah preventing that would be good" I said to Miranda "Any other suggestions?".

Miranda picked up a date pad.

"Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic for their advanced tech and force powers, and Tali could do with an alternate form so that she can live without a suit".

Tali already knew about alternate forms so that didn't need explaining. Jump Chan had downloaded all the info directly into Tali's mind long ago.

"I figure we could spend ten years gathering technology for the warehouse and learning about this Force" Miranda said.

That could be cool, assuming no one turned to the dark side.

"Also there's a Star Trek Voyager that caught my eye" Miranda was now saying "Again there's advanced technology for us to get, and some exploring to do".

Miranda read off the padd some more.

"I also found a Jump called Stargate Atlantis, which looks interesting" Miss Lawson let me know "We can import as members of a larger team, not sure how the new memories will effect us. I keep meaning to ask Jump Chan about that".

She didn't appear. Apparently she was busy, that or she just didn't want to get involved. Who could tell with creatures such as her.

"You might want to learn magic too, but I don't fancy having to live in primitive conditions. So I found something called Harry Potter, only that would turn you into a child, but there is a more lewd adult version called Hogwarts University, we might want to look into that".

So lots of options. I'd have to carefully consider them all before making my choice.

(Line Break)

 **Aircar. Illium.**

Much to the collective irritation of everyone in the air-car, the radio station I'd chosen featured Westerlund News broadcast. Miss al-Jilani was ranting about information she'd gained from an inside source with the Council.

Apparently Ashley Williams had apparently arrived on the Citadel some time ago and had turned in her report of the Horizon incident. Now the tabloid news program was twisting everything to make it sound as if Ashely had stood up to her former CO, who had gone rogue. Which was sort of what had happened.

 _"Ashley Williams had this to say when asked point-blank about the rumours surrounding her former commanding officer"._

At this point Ash called us all terrorists, and didn't even mention the Collectors. She was so an Alliance puppet these days. Hadn't she always been?

Then things got worse as al-Jilana had found some important batarian to speak out against the commander.

 _"Now the Counicl has Butcher of Torfan hersel off her leash?"_ the Batarian said _"She's out there savaging the Terminus Systems indiscriminately, and as the attack dog of the Human terrorist group Cerberus no less"._

Shepard turned off the radio.

"Why did Ash turn on us like this?" the Commander wondered "I know she never agreed with my way of doing things, and she didn't like having aliens on board the firs Normandy, but I never thought she'd stab me in the back like this".

It hurt a lot when it wasn't a video game.

"Part of it migh be al-Jilani twisting things" I said "There's a reason why I feed information to Emily Wong, and I think al-Jilani knows that. If I were you I'd given Miss Wong the interview she requested. Let people hear your side of the story".

I had more to say.

"Ash was always very loyal to the Alliance" I reminded Shepard "They've promoted her, and she was the poster girl for the Alliance Navy for a while. Its no surprise that she's speaking out against Cerberus".

Jack had a different opinion on the matter.

"This al-Jilana bitch needs to get laid and that Ash is just jealous that were out here being all awesome without her" Subject Zero said "Plus you two used to screw, I bet she misses her boytoy".

Somehow I doubted Ashley missed me. The lack of any messages from her was proof. I had to wonder if she'd ever really cared about me, but then she must have given that we'd kept having sex. Maybe she was just a complex person and I didn't understand her.

"Both of you, forget about Williams" Garrus advised "We have a Justicar to recruit. Liara told us that Samara was last spotted this part of the city".

With that we got back on track.

"So if I was a deadly Asari super-cop, where would I be?" Shepard mused.

Garrus pointed at something below.

"Well, I'd start with the cop-shop right over there. If she isn't there, they might know where she is" he said.

I brought the aircar in for a landing, and soon we marched into the station, only to find the room crowded with various beings. All of them were shouting to be heard over each other and only managing to create a rather cacophonous din. In the centre of all that chaos was a harried-looking Asari whose name tag proclaimed her name as Anaya.

"I demand that you release my vessel, Detective," a Volus was saying "I'm an honest trader and I've suffered a grievous loss. Surely, you wouldn't compound my ill-fortunes by impounding my cargo ship".

"Never mind that!" a human shouted. "What are you people doing about my wife?".

Somehow we managed to get to the cop's desk.

"Liara T'Soni sent us" the commander said to the cop "I'm looking for a justicar called...".

She wasn't able to finish.

"Wait. Liara T'Soni? As in the Liara T'Soni?" the cop asked "that'd make you Joan Shepard. Huh. My older sister served on the Destiny Ascension"

The Spectre pointed behind her.

"Those two chuckle heads were actually at the controls. All I did was call Admiral Hackett" she said.

Oh so someone did remember that I'd been in command of the Normandy during that battle.

"Hi, we're looking for an Asari Justicar named Samara" I said "We were told that you'd be able to help us find her".

"I'll tell you the same thing I've told everyone else; the Justicar's in the middle of an investigation of a local crime." Anaya said with a sigh. "My superiors have asked me to detain her, but I'm holding off on that as long as I can".

"Why aren't you both on same side?" Shepard asked "Why would you detain her".

"A Justicar represents the height of Asari law and governance" Anaya told us "She can act with absolute authority, even against me. If I get in her way or try o stop her from what she sees as her duty, she'd be obligated to strike me down".

Not that different from a Spectre really. Which made me wonder if Justicars were the inspiration for the Spectres in some way. A Spectre could be a one person STG team mixed with a justicar.

"She'd kill a cop for doing her duty?" Garrus asked.

"I'm a cop on Illium," the detective replied with a shrug. "I follow orders and do my job as best I can, but working these mean streets demands a certain moral flexibility, and that's more than I can say for my superiors. They want me to detain her long enough for them to get official permission to kick her off-world, but I know for a fact that her code won't allow her to submit to my authority for longer than a day. After that…"

She ran a finger across her throat.

"After that, she kills you and anybody else who gets in her way." Garrus summarised.

The cop lady nodded.

"Now you've got Spectre authority so I have to let you go after Samara if that's what you want" she said "But I don't advise it, the Justicar is looking to the actions of the Eclipse mercs and they won't care that you're a Spectre".

Shepard smiled.

"If there's an Eclipse merc on this planet that can take me down, I don't deserve to call myself a Spectre" the commander said.

"I think we can handle it" Garrus stated.

To be fair the galaxy was littered with the corpses of mercs who'd met one or more of us.

"My Spectre authority covers my companions, too." Shepard pointed out. "If the Justicar's travelling in my company, that'd let you off the hook for dealing with her".

"Are you kidding me?" Anaya said with a short laugh "She isn't some merc for hire. The only way that you could get her working for you is if you had some big impossible crusade"

Shepard smiled again.

"I'm trying to stop the Collectors from attacking any more humans colonies".

"Well, I have to admit that might get her attention" said the cop.

(Line Break)

 **Streets. Illium.**

I had assumed that we'd have to shoot our way through a load of mercs in order to get to the Justicar, but as it turned out someone had done our work for us.

"Well shit this was a party" Jack commented.

The courtyard up ahead was strewn with various Asari bodies, Eclipse mercs who'd been killed various ways. I saw gun wounds, broke necks, and enough dents in the walls to let me know that heavy duty biotics had been involved.

"Please tell me this whole thing was the work of a small army" Garrus pleaded "And please don't tell me that this whole thing was the work of the one person we're trying to recruit".

It was even more terrible than it seemed.

"This Justicar might do the same thing to us if she thinks she has to" I told Garrus "Maybe we should just go".

"Come on, who are the men here? Don't be a couple of girls" Shepard teased. "Everything will be fine. I'm sure that she'll be completely reasonable once she's heard what we have to say".

This was when we saw a screaming Asari who was in the process of being thrown out of a broken window. She didn't die upon hitting the ground, but it might have been better for the asari if she had as the Justicar was now coming in to finish her off by the looks of things.

"You stand before a member of the Justicar order," the tall Asari woman declared, her soft voice somehow commanding and regal at the same time "Are you ready to answer for your crimes?"

The other asari didn't reply, rather she tried to crawl away.

"You stand accused of participation in the trafficking of illegal arms and goods, the illegal shipment and importation of controlled substances and, most serious of all, you stand accused of the murder of the Volus trader Dakni Kor. How do you plead?".

"That wasn't me," the young merc said rather unconvincingly. "One of the other Eclipse sisters killed him. I only pretended to fire my gun, I never actually killed anyone".

"Your plea of 'Not Guilty' will be noted for the record," the Justicar responded. "Now if you claim innocence, child, then how do you explain this recording?".

Prodding at her omnitool, the Justicar carefully observed the young mercenary's face as a slightly-tinny voice echoed throughout the courtyard. A voice, less fearful but still recognisable as belonging to the young Eclipse girl currently cowering on the ground, played out loud for us all to hear.

"Well, it's official! Little baby Elnora's a full-fledged Eclipse sister! I tracked down that stupid Volus and blew the little bastard's suit wide open. Up close, with exploding rounds!".

Then there was some recorded laughter.

"Oh and I look so hot in my new uniform. Goddess, this is even better than the Joining. I can't wait to see some real action! Next time I go home, my friends are gonna be so jealous!"

As the recording finished, Samara turned her calm gaze back to the mercenary. "

"Do you deny that was your voice?" the Justicar asked.

"I was being watched, I had to do it or the others, they'd have killed me," Elnora tried to explain.

The Justicar was not convinced.

"First, you claim that you did nothing, but now you say that you were coerced into your unjust actions by your fellow Eclipse Sisters," the Justicar observed serenely "Your attempted perjury will be noted in your final sentencing",

Elnora backpedalled, scrambling away from the Justicar. Her fear was obvious to everyone here, as the Justicar advanced upon her relentlessly.

"I now extend to you a one-time offer of clemency," Samara said coldly.

Elnora perked up at the offer.

"Your organisation provided transport and safe passage to a dangerous criminal some time ago. Tell me where she went and I will factor your cooperation into my final judgement" she offered.

"She's gone!" Elnora yelled. "A few days ago! The AML Demeter took her to Omega!".

This was when I noticed that one of Elnora's hands was crawling toward a M-9 Tempest sub-machine gun that was lying unused on the ground nearby. But there was no need to worry as the Justicar used her bitoics to send the weapon into a nearby trashcan.

"Is that all you know?" the Justicar asked. "Complete honesty is your only hope, child".

The younger asari just nodded.

"Your cooperation has been noted," Samara said. "I find you guilty of the crimes of smuggling, drug trafficking, and living off the lives of innocents. But your sentence for these crimes has been commuted in light of your assistance".

This didn't mean that the young merc was going to get away Scott free.

"As for the murder of Dakni Kor, the evidence seems clear. Your perjury and attempted violence in resisting arrest implies both a lack of remorse and a clear-cut recognition of your complicity; both of which is unacceptable. Have you anything to say before I pass judgement?".

"That little bastard had it coming!" Elnora shouted "He and his partner screwed us over and stuck us with a load of Minagen X3 laced with tainted red sand!".

"Then you should have detained the Volus and turned him in." Samara replied "The local authorities regard both of those substances as controlled. Attempting to ship either of them onto Illium without a specific licenses is illegal. Your two Volus partners would have either faced severe penalties or lengthy prison sentences. Instead you committed murder; a far more serious offence".

I wanted to close my eyes, but found that I couldn't.

"Your final judgement is death, the sentence to be carried out immediately. But in light of your cooperation, I will grant you that which you denied your victim; a quick and merciful death" she then said.

There was a snap, as the asari's neck broke, and mercenary fell limp. Samara had done it with bioitcs.

"Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess" she then said.

Then the Justicar turned to face us. I found myself taking a step back.

"I am Samara, a member of the Justicar order. I ask that you surrender your weapons so that your intentions may be made known".

"My intentions are not to surrender my weapons under any circumstances, especially around any person capable of doing all this," Shepard replied.

Thankfully the justicar did not attack us.

"I approached these Eclipse mercenaries, seeking information and the whereabouts of their sister Elnora. They refused to accommodate my request" Samara asked.

"So you killed them all. Is that standard Justicar policy?" Garrus asked.

Often it was ours.

"If the cause is just, yes. Can you claim to be any different?"

"Nope, can't say that we are," Shepard stated

There was nothing said for a few moments until the Spectre decided to get on with things.

"I'm here on a matter of some importance" the commander told the justicar "You've undoubtedly heard that human colonies have been attacked, with whole populations being taken from their homes. I can prove that the Collectors are responsible for these mass abductions, and I intend to stop them by any means necessary".

The justicar paced for a few moments.

"There is a task I must perform" she then said " A criminal I must bring to justice. Aid me in this and I will aid you against the Collectors".

Shepard seemed puzzled.

"Does this have something to do with Omega" she asked.

A logical question given that the merc had been discussing it.

"Indeed it does" Samara answered "Now do we have an agreement?".

The Commander agreed and with that we headed back to the ship. Apparently we wouldn't be fighting any more mercs today.

(Line Break)

 **XO Office. The Normandy.**

"So how did you get Tali to agree to let you come along on my Jump?" I asked Miranda as I sat next to her on the couch she had in her office "I half expected her to shoot you".

Miranda smiled at me.

"It wasn't much trouble really" she told me "I just sat down with her and explained why I wanted to go and what I had to offer. I don't think Tali wants to share you, but I pointed out that the oppurtines are worth it, and that she can greatly aid her people by returning to this galaxy once the Jumps are done with technology and resources that she can use to help her people, including a way to fix their immune systems. Also I told her that while I would be second in command she'd be the one who got to play with all the new tech we can find".

I assumed there was more to it, and I was right. Plus I wouldn't be surpised if that scary Jump Chan lady had something to with all this.

"Then I reminded her that she'd have to share you, with a lot of women if she was serious about joining a harem, but that didn't prevent you two from having a romance. Plus there was some girl talk you don't need to know about" she added.

Miranda suddenly moved closer to me.

"Now I'm committed being your companion on these Jumps, but we can't let that get in the way of the mission, so let's not tell everyone just yet" Miss Lawson said "Once we've stopped the Collectors I'll resign from Cerberus and go where you go, as I'm sure Tali will".

This was when I discovered that Miranda was an amazing kisser. There was an intensity to the way she kissed that I'd never experienced before. Our tongues toyed with each other between slightly parted lips.

When she drew her hand down my spine, I reciprocated by sliding my free hand along the small of her back and up, pulling her deeper into the kiss.

Soon she had a hand tugging insistently at my shirt. We broke the kiss long enough for me to pull it off. As it came off she let out sound of approval.

Then while never taking her eyes from mine, she started to unzip her jumpsuit. The futurist fabric fell away slowly, revealing hints of black lace beneath until finally the zipper reached her waist.

She soon stood up and the remainder of her jumpsuit made its way to the floor, leaving her in just her underwear. A black lace bra with matching panties.

"Now I think its time I showed you why you'll want me in charge of your harem" Miranda was saying, while I stared at her tits "Not only am I good at managing projects, but I'm quite skilled at keeping my boss happy".

Her hands worked quickly tugging my trousers down just as her face came to level with my cock. Raising an eyebrow she praised the size, then she looked up at me and planted a delicate kiss on the tip of cock.

"I'll give you a taste of what is to come" she said "There's no rush, and I'm worth waiting for. Is that okay?".

My voice abandoned me, so I simply nodded. She smiled, no doubt pleased at my reaction, and then she took me into her mouth. She started slow, mouth moving barely past the head as her hand caressed the shaft. After a moment she started taking more of me into her mouth. Her hand and mouth worked in a steady pace, moving together.

It was all I could do to restrain myself from thrusting deeper and couldn't stop a slight rolling motion of my hips. She took my movements in stride, incorporating them into her rhythm.

As she took more of me into her mouth her hand moved from my shaft to my balls, rolling them gently between her fingers. Soon she was taking all of me and she began to pick up speed. I couldn't help cumming in her mouth before long, and when she swallowed everything, while smiling up at me, I was so glad I'd added her to my small but growing harem.

(Line Break)

 **Observation Lounge. The Normandy.**

When the door opened I saw the Justicar sitting on the floor, she was looking out into space, and while she didn't look at me, she acknowledged by presence.

"Gothic now that we the ship is prepared for space travel we will soon be travelling to Omega" she said "But it will be some time before we arrive".

Yes Shepard would no doubt get distracted by some mission or other. Samara was wise enough to have to taken this into account after reading up some of our mission reports. Those were most likely contained upon the padds she had neatly stack nearby. Also I was sure she'd been reading our personall files.

"The Commander will get us to the station" I assured the Justicar "She is a woman of her word".

"I am not concerned about how long it takes to arrive" Samara replied "What concerns me is the effectiveness of this team. I noticed in your file that you are biotic".

Indeed I was, but what did that have to do with anything.

"Would you consent to taking lessons from me?" Samara asked "As my life reaches its end I find myself with a desire to teach some of what I know to others. There are other biotics on board, but I do not trust Cerberus and young Jack is perhaps too hotheaded for lessons. My opinions on them may change later, but for I prefer to be careful".

Wasn't Thane a biotic too? Maybe he wasn't in this version of Mass Effect there were some minor changes going on.

"I'd be honoured" I said to the Justicar.

It was a good opportunity to learn. I'd be a fool to let it pass by.

"Then come sit with me" Samara instructed "And we shall begin".

I did as she wished. 


	13. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Broker

**Author Note**

I've never actually played this DLC all the way through, so this chapter will be sort. Feel free not to read it.

 **Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 13**

 **Broker**

 **Captain's Cabin. The Normandy.**

Shepard lay back on her bed and looked up through the small window, which showed the blue light being generated by the ship as it travelled at FTL speeds. The Spectre could also see the stars, which had always been an impressive sight to her, but today they just weren't proving to be a distraction.

The commander sat up and turned her head so that she could look at fish tank, which was the only source of light in the room, thanks to her visits to Illium and the Citadel the tank was now full of exotic fish of many colours.

Shepard enjoyed watching the aquatic creatures as they swam around, she found it relaxing, but not this time as she was still distracted. There was too much on her mind, too many things to worry about.

A chime filled the air letting Shepard know that someone wanted inside her cabin.

"Who is it, EDI?" Shepard asked quietly.

"Doctor T'Soni is at the door," the AI reported tonelessly. "I can tell her that you are currently unavailable, if you wish".

There was no need so Shepard ordered the machine intelligence to open the door. A moment later Liara hesitantly entered the loft, which aside from fish tank was bathed in darkness. The asari let her eyes adjust before turning to look at Joan. What followed was an uncomfortable silence as they just stared at each other. The awkwardness was due to the fact that Liara had told Shepard to move on and find someone new, but that was hard for the Spectre do given that Liara was now here on the ship.

"So what brings you up here?" Shepard asked "Can I help you with something, or is this just a friendly visit?".

"We haven't had a chance to really speak since we were last on Illuim. I thought I'd see how you were" Liara replied.

Shepard had dealt with Samara's daughter, who'd been on Omega, and as soon as that was done Liara had called up requesting aid to deal with the Shadow Broker.

"I'm not doing so good" Shepard admitted "I have to take down the Collectors with a team who aren't ready for the kind of fight we'll be facing. Hopefully taking on the Broker will get their heads in the game".

Liara moved closer to the Commander.

"Don't you trust them?" she wondered.

"Jack and Zaeed are doing this for the money. Jacob and Miranda are still company people, loyal to the Illusive Man. Mordin sees this whole thing as a puzzle to be solved. Samara has her code, and I haven't a clue as to what Kasumi is thinking" Shepard complained, slumping down on a seat "As for Grunt, he just wants to fight".

Liara moved to sit next to Shepard.

"You have Garrus, Gothic and Tali now" the asari reminded the Spectre "And I know you'll finish the job. You always do".

Shepard frowned.

"I'm worried about them too" she admitted "Garrus is shaken up about what happened to his team and won't be an effective leader if anything happens to me. Tali is dependable, but she's a engineer not a solider. And as for Gothic, I get the impression that he's up to something, I just can't tell what it is".

Rather than talk more Liara moved closer and began kissing Joan, and from there other things went on to happen. Shepard wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not, but after a few moments she decided that she didn't care and simply went with the flow.

(Line Break)

 **Armoury. Normandy SR-2**

"Oh baby come to Daddy!" I said.

I heard Tali stammered, as she tried to say something.

"Okay wasn't expecting this, but I'll do my best" she replied "Mmmm Daddy I...".

She then stopped talking.

"You were talking to the rifle weren't you" she then said.

Indeed I had been. My masterwork was complete. I'd recreated the Prothean Particle Rifle using the information given to me by the Cipher, parts I'd found on Omega, the tools here on the Normandy, as well as Tali's invaluable instance.

"Yeah" I admitted to Tali "But your my baby too".

I couldn't see the quarians face, but I figured it would be a good idea to change the subject.

"After the Reapers cut off the Prothean Empire from the Citadel and the other star clusters, the Prothean resistance was forced to develop weapons that didn't rely on intact supply lines" I informed Tali "So they made these, the Prothean Particle Rifle, which is a powerful assault rifle, that was modified to fire without thermal clips and is deadly even without specialised ammunition".

Tali scanned the finished product.

"So basically its a stripped down version of the Collectors' particle beam weapon" she realised "Lighter and with a greater ammo reverse, but it has a short range weapon, so no sense adding a scope".

More or less. It was as close to a Star Trek Phaser as I was going to get.

"Yes" I said "Its not as powerful, and from what I saw in my visions, its meant to be fire in short, controlled bursts, and it can overheat. But there's plenty of potential for modifications. And no one else in the whole galaxy has this rifle since the Collectors don't use them".

It was only because I'd gotten to get a good look at a particle beam weapon that I'd been able to make the rifle. The Cipher was limited in that it didn't give everything I needed to recreate Prothean technology. Which was a shame because if I'd created this rifle two years by now the Alliance, and perhaps other races, could have upscaled versions for their ships. Not that this had helped the Protheans much.

"Let's go show to Garrus" I was now saying "He knows a good weapon when he sees one".

I turned to leave.

"Boys and their toys" I heard Tali mutter.

(Line Break)

 **Comm Room. The Normandy.**

As soon as she entered Shepard found that the briefing room was buzzing with excitement and that the air was filled with chatter. The Spectre could imagine what was going through everyone's minds.

Were they really about to go after the Shadow Broker? Were they ready for this? Not for the Collectors, certainly not for the Reapers, but maybe they could take the Shadow Broker?

Jacob and Kasumi were talking, which was nothing exceptional as Goto seemed to have claimed Jacob as her own shortly after they'd met. Chambers would have a field day trying to analyse that relationship.

Miranda was for some reason sending glances at Gothic as he continued a conversation with Tali. The quarian and the former Alliance officer were no doubt discussing what tech would be useful on this mission.

Shepard couldn't help wondering why Miranda was glancing at Gothic, did the genetically engineered woman have thing for the Commander's old XO. The Spectre figured that it was none of her business.

Thane was silent, his hands clasped together in prayer, while Mordin mumbled to himself as he ran a diagnostic on his custom omni-tool. Nothing odd there.

Grunt, Jack Garrus and Zaeed were comparing weapons. Thanks to Gothic and Tali, the standard assault rifle for the Normandy's ground team was now a Geth pulse-rifle, all of which had been recovered rather than built, but that hadn't stopped people from modifying their rifles.

However Jack and Grunt had switched over to the Geth plasma shotgun, a weapon Shepard had first seen back when she'd been hunting Saren. No one had ever been able to recreate the shotgun, but it was possible to maintain plasma shotguns taken from the Geth and they could also be modified.

Gothic had recently introduced the particle assault rifle to the team, having recreated an old Prothean weapon, but no one wanted to use it without time to practice with it. Shepard was considering sending the design to the Alliance and the Council as a peace offering. Her old XO was leaving it up to the Spectre.

Shepard waited for a natural lull in the conversations before speaking.

"Okay, people, you know why we are here. We're hitting the Shadow Broker!" Shepard said as the briefing table lit up with a hologram of the world the Normandy was heading to "There's a small army between him and us, and our only advantage is he doesn't know that we're coming for him".

Actually saying it out loud really helped it sink it for people.

"How exactly did we manage to keep the biggest information dealer in the galaxy in the dark about something like that?" Jacob asked.

Liara spoke up.

"Currently, the Broker's agents think that we're still near Illium," she explained. "I even managed to plant a rumour at a local refuelling depot that we're on our way to the last known location of the Migrant Fleet. I figured that it far enough out of the way that no one will worry to much if they can't track us".

"How did you manage to pull that off?" Tali asked. "The Migrant Fleet isn't known for advertising its location unless it's absolutely necessary".

Not that this made it hard to find. Many groups tracked the Migrant Fleet, but that information wasn't shared with the general public.

"I'm a very good information broker." Liara replied, sounding proud of herself.

Shepard looked at the hologram of Hagalaz, and from what Liara had already told her this world received very little attention from the galactic community. A salarian mining expedition had initially discovered the planet years ago, by the miners were strong-armed away from the planet by organised crime figures.

Hagalaz's exploration rights were then sold to the highest bidder, and the planet was mined for a while, but most of those sights were abandoned when other planets were found with more accessible resources.

Though Hagalaz had a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere capable of supporting life, its rotational period was slower than Earth's, making its day and night cycle about 98 Earth days long.

This caused there to be intense heat on one side of the planet and extreme cold on the other. Violent storms could always be found where ever on the planet the sun is rising or setting. As a result, the flora and fauna of Hagalaz had developed the capability to live in cycles of ice, flooding, baking heat, and dramatic air pressure changes.

"You're sayin' that the Broker, the real Shadow Broker, lives in this shithole?" Jack asked with a snort.

It was clear she didn't believe it.

"I was able to track the Shadow Broker's minions to this world" Liara assured everyone "His ship is here".

A display of the ship was soon shown to everyone.

"The ship is obviously drawing power from the ionic discharge converters running down the length of the ship" Tali told everyone.

"In less fancy terms, the ship gets its power from fancy lightning rods" Gothic explained.

The Quarian shot a look at her boyfriend who just smirked.

"It looks as if the shuttle bays are locked down, so we're going to need to find a maintenance hatch of some kind" Tali continued by saying.

Liara took over the briefing at this point.

"Once we have an entrance, we'll crack open the door, get inside, and deal with the internal security. Then we'll find Feron, he will be in the detention block, near central operations" she said.

People wondered how Liara knew all of this. Shepard couldn't help wondering if this was some sort of trap.

"So how we doing this?" Garrus asked "Are we being sneaky, or are we going in hard".

"The hard way," Shepard answered as she gestured to a small section of the hull. "I'll take a small squad and do a suborbital drop on to the hull. We'll secure a part of the hull, pacify any resistance then proceed inside, from there we'll unlock the shuttle bay. That's when team two will arrive, you'll secure the docking area, and our exit while team one will rescue Feron, and confront the Broker".

It sounded simple, but everyone knew it wouldn't be. It never was.

(Line Break)

 **Shadow Broker Ship. Hagalaz**

I took cover behind a heavy metal beam that was for some reason set into the side of the wall. Tali was across the corridor from me, drawing her pistol.

"More of them!" the quarian yelled "How many guards does the Shadow Broker have?".

Lots by the looks of things, and it was our job too keep them all occupied while Shepard, Liara and some of the others went to deal with the Broker himself.

While no one other than me was using the new particle rifle I'd built, and was improving upon, I was using them and effectively because I could remember killing husks with a very similar rifle about fifty thousand years ago. Which I proved when I shot an asari through the chest and her barriers did nothing to save her life.

Next I saw Tali put a bullet fired from her pistol through the knee of a turian guard who was in cover, then shoot him in the head, when the first shot caused him to move out of cover as he lost balance. She both worried me because she was good at killing people and impressed me because she was such a good shot.

"This is ridiculous" I heard Miranda complain

She was right, it was. We would get over run. I had to do something to alter the odds.

"Grunt?!" I yelled.

"Yes?" replied the Krogon

"Grunt, smash!"

He grinned while drawing the shotgun, then with a bellow he broke cover and sprinted forwards the broker's guards. I heard them panic as they tried to fall back in a orderly way, and failed to, as well as shotgun blasts and the thuds of bodies hitting the floor.

"He's not as good as Wrex" I commented "But he could get there".

The gunfire had stopped and when we caught up we found that Grunt was panting happily. Tali was moments later at a terminal of some sort, her omni-tool out and scanning.

"I've downloaded the ship's layout" she told me "And as far as I can tell team one is heading for the prison block".

Now that we'd secured the docking bay we just had to hold it so that team one would have an exit once they'd grabbed the drell we were after. Also if Shepard needed back up we'd be here for her.

"Okay then" I said "If that was the last of the guards I guess we just have to wait".

Waiting was always the hard part.

(Line Break)

 **Shadow Broker Ship. Hagalaz**

When Shepard called Team Two to the Broker's office I saw multiple monitors that were all flashing, there were a lot of incoming calls. Liara started playing the messages.

"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Morat" said a salarian voice. "We had a momentary connection failure. Can you confirm status?"

"Operative Shora requesting update. Are we still online?" asked an asari voice.

"Shadow Broker, I've lost our feed. We are online and awaiting instructions" said a turian voice.

The voices continued to pile up, filling the room with noise as Liara moved to stand before the monitors.

"This is the Shadow Broker" she told them "The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation, it disrupted communications momentarily. We are now back online. Shadow Broker out".

Liara then turned to face us.

"The Broker disguised his voice" she explained "So they won't know its someone else in control, and everyone who's ever seen him in person is dead, so…"

It wasn't hard to figure out what was going to happen next.

"You're the new Shadow Broker" Shepard stated.

"Is taking over as the Shadow Broker really a good idea?" Tali asked "If we found this place then someone else could".

Good point.

"It's either that or lose everything" Liara replied "His contacts, his trading sources. With the Shadow Broker's information network I can give you, I can…"

Liara had turned to the Spectre, and I got the sense this would be were they parted ways as a couple. They sort of had already, but once we left here it would truly be over.

At this point we all left Shepard and Liara to talk things through while we went to check out what this ship had to offer.

(Line Break)

 **Information Centre. Shadow Broker's Ship.**

"Oh look he has files on all of us" I said as looked through the Shadow Broker's hard drive "And on a lot of VIPs".

Tail was off inspecting some tech, but Miranda moved closer so could see what I had discovered.

"I wouldn't mind a look" she said "Bring up my file".

Which I did.

Cerberus Officer. Efficient, ruthless, obsessed with human dominance. Possible recruitment candidate after Illusive Man's assassination and destruction of Cerberus.

"Now that's not fair" moaned Miranda "Sure I've worked towards human advancement, but that doesn't mean I want humanity to dominate the galaxy".

I was surprised that she wasn't more concerned with the fact that the Shadow Broker had been planned to kill the Illusive Man, but perhaps that wasn't worth worrying about him anymore.

Actually thinking on the matter, it might not be such a bad idea to get the location of his base out of Miranda and let Council go after the Illusive Man. Assuming they'd bother to send a fleet to attack his base. I wasn't sure the Alliance would either, they had other matters on their minds.

"You use a dating app just to get laid?" I asked Miranda.

She gave me a look.

"I'm a Cerberus Operative" she reminded me "That doesn't leave a lot of time for dating. Besides this was before I committed myself to spending decades as your concubine".

"Concubine?" I asked.

Miranda shrugged.

"It sounds more fancy than sexual partner and not as boring as companion" she said.

I did some more reading.

Medical Correspondence

From: Illium Medical Center, Prenatal Care Department  
RE: TEST RESULTS, PATIENT 12-66AD-1

Miss Lawson,

As per your request for privacy, this message will be removed from our database upon confirmation of send integrity.

While we cannot firmly attribute the cause of the benign neoplasm to the irregularity in your genetic makeup, we can confirm that the progressive damage renders you unable to conceive a child.

About 12 percent of human women ages 18-54 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant according to data obtained from the Institute of Species Research (ISR). There are many support groups if you wish to discuss your condition and several options available should you wish to consider the adoption of a child.

If you require further consultation, please contact our communication officer.

Sincerely,  
Dr. Banner Grenway  
Department Medical Director  
Illium Medical Center

"Oh Miranda I had no idea" I said "I'm so sorry".

Miss Lawson went and sat down on a chair.

"Its not a big deal" she told me "And maybe in one of those more advanced universe we'll find a way to fix things. Besides I don't think being in a Jump Chain is good for raising a child".

I imagined that Trek tech would be able to fix whatever issues Miranda was having with her womb.

"Let's look at Tali's file" Miranda suggested.

I couldn't resist, and soon something caught my attention.

To: Shadow Broker  
From: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya  
I know you don't know me. I'm the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah, and I've run into trouble on my Pilgrimage. I was investigating a disabled geth and found a recording that seems to indicate that a Spectre named Saren is working with the geth. He's betrayed the Council and is working for some group called the Reapers.

I'm on the Citadel now, but Saren's people are after me. This is too big for me to deal with. I'm willing to offer you the information in exchange for protection. Are you interested?

To: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya  
From: Shadow Broker  
I'm interested, and you were smart to come to me. I have an enforcer on the Citadel named Fist. He can protect you. Give him the information and let him get you someplace safe.

To: Shadow Broker  
From: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya  
No deal. Saren has turned too many people against me. If we're doing this, I want to meet you in person. I can't trust anybody else.

To: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya  
From: Shadow Broker:  
Understood. I'll meet you in person. Fist will set it up.

To: Fist  
From: Shadow Broker  
I'm forwarding you the intel on a quarian named Tali'Zorah. She wants a meeting, and she's got valuable intel. Get her someplace safe, and avoid any intelligence channels. Spectre Saren Arterius is after her.

When you get the intel, kill the quarian and any of our operatives who had access to the data. This information cannot be compromised. Top-level security. You'll be compensated for the loss of any of your people.

To: Shadow Broker  
From: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya  
Your agent was compromised. He tried to sell me out to Saren. I've turned the information over to a human Alliance commander named Shepard, and I think I've got all the protection I need. Thank you for your offer, and I hope this does not affect any future exchanges.

To: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya  
From: Shadow Broker  
Of course. I apologise for Fist's behaviour. Should you ever change your mind, I'd be more than happy to offer my personal protection. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

"Wow Tali was really lucky she joined up with you" Miranda commented "If you hadn't taken her on the first Normandy she'd be dead by now".

Indeed so, but I was more instrested in the fact that Tali was buying educational vids on human mating rituals and had just upgraded to Nerve-Stim Pro: Deluxe Edition. Seemed like someone was horny to me.

"Oh check out the video files" Miranda urged.

She was using her omni-tool to access the database.

"There's one of Udina with an asari stripper on Omega" I said "I'm saving that for blackmail material".

Or maybe I'd send it to Emily Wong for shits and giggles.

"Why is David Anderson meeting with a Cerberus agent?" Miranda wondered

The footage showed the admiral meeting with a man at the Citadel Presidium, it looked all hush hush.

"Might be trying to get information on Shepard" I mused "Or maybe he doesn't know the guy is with Cerberus, if not we should warn him".

Miranda then swore.

"Tela Vasir!" she yelled "She's a Council Spectre, and she's on the Shadow Broker's payroll!".

Wasn't she in the DLC? I couldn't remember.

"Let's get copies of this information before we go" I said "I have a feeling that we'll sending a lot of it to different people very soon".

And very likely we'd be shaking things up. Which could be fun.


	14. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Spectre

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Spectre**

 **Office. The Citadel.**

"So have you given any thought to the Council's offer?" David Anderson asked me.

I'd visited the Admiral's office here on the Citadel a few times over the past few years. My first visit to his office, which he had due to being the military adviser to the human council member, had been shortly after I had recovered the last living Prothean, and I'd been back since then to hand over a few bits of Prothean tech to the Alliance.

Which was why I was here now, only this time I'd been handing over prototype models of my particle rifle to the Council rather than data disks. The blueprints and such had been sent to the quarians by Tali, and I had no doubt that Cerberus had gotten its greasy mitts on my date, but the council races now had working models as well as the data, so they'd be able to start producing their own versions of the particle rifle very quickly.

Shepard had decided to use the tech as an olive branch between us and the leaders of the galaxy in the hopes that we'd be able to work together despite Cerberus's involvement. I'd left it up to her as I didn't really need more money since Liara had paid us well for helping to take down the Shadow Broker.

We'd come to the Citadel shortly after setting Liara up as the new Shadow Broker for reasons Shepard hadn't shared, but I assumed it had to do with Thane's loyalty quest given that those two had gone off together. I'd used this free time to met with the Council so that I could give them the new weapon.

After it was all done I'd been surprised by an offer. The council had chosen me as a candidate to become a Spectre. Because of this offer I now had a lot more access to information about the Spectres than I had before.

For example I knew that The Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch was founded in 693 CE, shortly before the Krogan Rebellions began, at a time when the Council was uneasy about the unchecked expansion of the krogan into Citadel space. The Spectres were chosen from the finest salarian Special Tasks Group operatives and asari huntresses, and were originally intended to function, at least partly in an observational capacity, as well as the Council's first line of defence.

When the krogan finally turned against the Citadel races, the Spectres were ready for them, they'd been using guerrilla tactics such as computer viruses and devastating sabotage to slow the krogan down before the turians joined the conflict. For years the activities of the Spectres were a Council secret, but their roles in that war were made public after the Krogan Rebellions were over.

All records of the Spectres are sealed and you could only be granted access to them with permission of the Council. It was not even clear how many Spectres there are, although Alliance intelligence estimates that there are fewer than a hundred. Each Spectre was hand-picked by the Council after proving that they are an individual of exceptional ability and self-reliance.

In theory Spectres could be chosen from any race, but in practice they were nearly always selected from the Council races. Having a Spectre chosen from their kind often raises a particular species' profile on the Citadel. Many alien races had been part of the Citadel for centuries without a Spectre being chosen from within their ranks.

Ambassador Anita Goyle and later her successor Donnel Udina had both been desperate to get a human into the Spectres, as this would would have been the first step toward humanity gaining a seat on the Council.

The first candidate had been David Anderson, the very man I was now sitting with, but his observer, Saren Arterius, sabotaged the evaluation, falsifying his report to make Anderson look responsible for casualties caused by Saren's own ruthless tactics during a mission. After Saren submitted his report, the Council refused Anderson entry into the Spectres.

Humanity's second candidate was of course Commander Shepard, whose outing of Saren as a renegade Spectre resulted in her induction into the Spectre ranks.

Another tidbit I'd learned was that in the last thousand years only two people had ever turned down an offer to become a Spectre, both of whom were asari matriarchs. Which made me wonder if they'd known something that I didn't.

Spectres had no command structure. They answered only to the Council, and in some cases the Council preferred not to know the exact details of how a Spectre accomplished their mission. Spectres acted in any way they saw fit, either with careful diplomacy or ruthless force, being officially above any law.

Some people, like Executor Pallin, saw Spectres as a potential risk because they are not constrained by the law, while others are in awe of them. In fiction, such as in the blasto movies which featured a hanar Spectre. Spectres are portrayed as super-agents always on some mission to save the galaxy. Which in Shepard's case at least was sort of the truth.

Candidates for the Spectres typically has to gain years of military or law enforcement experience before even being considered. The screening process involved background checks, psychological evaluations, and a period of field training under an experienced mentor. Because of the rigorous selection process, while Spectres might sometimes use unorthodox methods but they rarely go rogue. When it does happen, the only solution is to revoke their status, then send another Spectre after them. No one else would be up to the job.

Spectres had supralegal authority, as such they could arrest people and lock them away without trail or even execute a person. They were exempt from oversight.

"A lot" I said to the Admiral as he poured us both a drink "I'm not sure what to do".

Anderson passed me my drink before sitting down.

"In the short term I don't think it would change much" he said "A trainee Spectre is mentored by another Spectre, sometimes for years, and while the Council don't like it they restored the Commander's status so she's allowed to train you. I suspect the Council intended to place you with one of their more loyal agents, like Lt Williams who will be working with a salarain called Jondum Bau".

Ash was a bit of a racist so I could see that ending badly. Then again she might make it and become a damn fine Spectre.

"A Spectre called Tela Vasir actually volunteered to take you under her wing" Anderson informed me "But some information recently came to light that caused the Council to disown her. In fact they're sending Jondum Bau and Lt Williams after her".

Tela Vasir had been working for the old Shadow Broker. I'd suggested to Liara that it would be wise to expose the asari Spectre since we didn't want another rogue Spectre running around causing mayhem. We'd had enough of that with Saren.

"Why did the council even consider me?" I asked "After all I'm working with Cerberus".

Anderson sipped his drink before replying.

"Udina wanted another human Spectre badly after humanity joined the Council" the admiral told me "Someone he could control or at least have some influence over. The Council agreed that Shepard should have a successor, but the whole idea was mostly forgotten about when the first Normandy was destroyed. We all had bigger things to worry about, and it was considered wrong to replace the Commander, oh and you brought us a living Prothean, which took up most of the Council's attention for some time. But then he Commander came back to life and Udina decided that humanity needed a Spectre that the Alliance could order about".

Which wasn't really the point of a Spectre. They were suppose to be agents of the Council not assests for a single government to call upon when it needed dirty work doing.

"We started trying to find someone a while back" Anderson was now telling me "and the first place we looked was the crew of the Normandy. We needed someone experienced so we turned to the officers and worked our way done. Joker was out for obvious reasons".

His brittle bones of course.

"Kaiden Alenko died on Virmire, and then there was you" Anderson said next "You quit the navy, but that didn't mean you couldn't be a Spectre, and then there's Lt Williams. Despite what she might tell you its not her family name that held her back, she's a fine solider and good to the people under her command, but she can offend officers. She doesn't respect her superiors as much as she should".

Having been her superior officer I knew this to be true. Ash was somewhat of a control freak at times, and if you earned her respect she'd follow you into hell, but she didn't give her trust easily. Shepard had lost Ashely's respect and trust simply by being associated with Cerberus.

"Udnia supports Williams because she is military, and she's earned her officer rank" Anderson told me "But the other races they remember who brought the last living Prothean to them, and some of us do remember who commanded the Normandy during the Battle for the Citadel".

At least somebody did.

"A lot of Spectres are former STC or former asari commandos so the fact that you're no longer an officer in the navy isn't that big of a concern, for the other councillors at least. I don't think they like the idea of the next human Spectre also being Alliance military. Spectres are suppose to answer to the Council not to Alliance Admirals. It can led to divided loyalties".

Which could be dangerous.

"Humanity, or least the human on the Council, is officially backing Lt Williams, but there's really no reason why we can't have three human Spectres" Anderson said "In fact were looking for a few more people to become trainee Spectres, with the Reapers on their way I think we'll need them".

Anderson didn't say anything for a while, he seemed lost in thought about something, but soon he came back to reality.

"I called the Commander and Shepard has already agreed to take you on as a trainee if that's what you want" the Admiral let me know "A formality really since you've been working in the field with her for a while now, heck you were there on Eden Prime when this all started".

Yes I'd been a Shepard's side though some tough times, and I'd not only survived I'd helped. Perhaps me being a Spectre wasn't such a strange thing after all.

"As for Cerberus since Shepard agreed to turn herself over once the mission is complete, the Alliance isn't going to kick to much of a fuss about you gaining such an important post" Anderson assured me "at least not when you're sharing new tech. The brass knows we have more gain from you taking on the Collectors".

Anderson adjusted his uniform and shifted in his seat. Something was making him uncomfortable.

"Still Shepard is going going to throw herself under the bus for the rest of you, Joker, Chakwas, any other former Alliance people, she'll take full responsibility for everything" Anderson said.

So that was why she'd offered to take be taken in by the Alliance, she was going to sacrifice her own freedom and take all the blame for working with Cerberus so that none of the other former Alliance people would get charged with treason.

"You're not officially working for Cerberus" Anderson said "You're working for Shepard so once this is done Spectre or not they'll still be a place for you under my command. I'll need you when the Reapers arrive, you've seen some of what they can do. The Alliance isn't stupid they'll look the other way because we need you. Even Shepard will avoid any actual charges".

I'd given some thought to what I'd do for Mass Effect 3. So far neither Liara or I had found anything info on the Crucible, and we only knew for certain that the plans could be found on Mars. There was a certain temple on the asari home world that most likely had a complete set of blueprints for the device, but it was a government funded temple that was no doubt much more secure now than it would be doing a Reaper invasion. We couldn't just go there and start messing about with the temple, at this point in the time line I was sure that the asari would kill to keep it hidden.

Perhaps the best place for me would be back with the Alliance as a Spectre. Then I'd have access to Mars, and I could claim that the Cipher, gave me knowledge of the Crucible and the Catalyst. I might at least be able to shorten the war even if I couldn't stop the Reapers from invading.

"So Gothic" said Anderson "What do I tell the council?".

(Line Break)

 **Dark Star Lounge. The Citadel.**

"Its nothing Gothic," Tali stated, with a voice that brokered no argument "Miranda is just being silly".

Miss Lawson chuckled,

"Tali. I know what I saw" she said.

I'd only just gotten to the bar so I'd missed the start of this conversation.

"Do tell Miranda" I requested.

Tali shot me a murderous glare, or at least I assumed she did, but I ignored it.

"Well, this was a few days ago" Miranda said "I went down into the shower rooms, and you wouldn't believe what I found her doing".

"Please Miranda" Tali pleaded "I'm begging you. Stop there".

"Oh, but I'm hardly done," the Cerberus operative said "So, like I was saying, I went to down to the showers, it was the middle of the night shift, and I was sure I could hear low humming sounds coming from inside a cubicle. I wanted to have a look, because I thought some machine had broken down but the cubicle was locked so I went to get one of the engineers, but as I was started to leave, the hums grew more intense, and I knew something was wrong, so I went to check. I activated my omni-tool, managed to override the lock, the door opened, and I find Tali sitting on the floor of the shower cubicle. Now guess what the humming sounds were".

I wasn't given a chance to guess.

"They weren't hums at all. What I heard were moans" Miranda told me. "So, just what was our devious and sneaky little quarian doing?"

I could guess.

"Her moans were the product of something very naughty, and she was obviously desperate for no one to find out. She was trying out her nerve-stim pro deluxe edition unit".

I knew what one was.

"Its a program quarians use to masturbate" Tali admitted, now refusing to be embarrassed "And Deluxe Edition is the expensive version. It has a remote control I was going to give you access so you could control it, you know for fun, but I got curious".

I just looked at her.

"Come on I'm horny" she was now saying "I have a muscular, well-toned, prime specimen of a mane...keelah ancestors help me!"

Tali clasped her hands over her vocalizer. And I looked down at myself. Well I was well-toned. Due my meta-vore perk and an active life style I kept my muscles looking good, plus I had a genetically engineered body as well wonderful medical care.

"So you caught Tali masturbating in the shower" I summarised "Even with the suit on that must have been funny".

Besides I was sure that many women on the Normandy were doing that in the shower. There were many handsome men on the ship for them to think about.

"Anyway enough humiliating of Tali" I said to the two women "I called the others here to share some news, and I think its worth celebrating".

That got their attention.

"What is it" Miranda asked.

I couldn't help smiling.

"Okay I'll tell you now. The council offered me status as a Spectre trainee" I told them "And I accepted. Shepard is officially training me, so assuming everything goes well once we're done with the Collectors I'll be made a Spectre".

Shepard and I already discussed this. She'd agreed with Anderson's plan to use our operations against the Collectors as Spectre training for me. Once the Collectors were stopped my training would be at an end and the Council would decide if I should become a Spectre or not.

"Oh so soon I could be dating a human Spectre" Tali said "My father is really going to hate you. He doesn't care much for non-quarains and I know he's never approved of Spectres".

Tali hadn't gotten past the whole teenage rebellion thing then.

"I'm surprised" commented Miranda "I don't mean to say that you don't deserve this, but you're working for Cerberus. Doesn't that make you a terrorist in their eyes".

That was apparently a human view point on the matter. The asari had and possibly the salarains had a different view on the matter.

"Either of you ever heard of Beelo Gurji?" I asked.

They both shook their heads.

"He was the very first Spectre" I told them "He was a salarian operative who was accused of using 30 civilians as bait to flush out his target. Instead of incarcerating him, the Council released him and offered him the chance to establish the Spectres, which he accepted. The Council has a very different opinion of what makes an agent that the Alliance does".

Miranda then ordered a bottle of something to celebrate with.

"I bet they're thinking that they'll be able to get more technology out of you directly if you work for them" the Cerberus operative mused "And I know the Illusive Man wanted to recruit you for more than just the Cipher. He must have seen the same potential in you that the council does now".

Perhaps he had.

"Well I'm going to get well and truly drunk" I decided.

Why not, this was worth celebrating.

(Like Break)

 **Apartment. The Citadel.**

"Hey everyone, come on in!" I greeted.

It was time for the party to begin. This was the final night of the Normandy crew's shore leave, the issue with Thane's son having been dealt with as best it could be, and we were all determined to end it on a high note. I was still somewhat wasted from last night and I intended to keep the buzz going just in case this mission against the Collectors got me killed. Granted for me it would be a game over rather than actual death since the rules of Jump Chan would cause me to sent home rather than let me be killed.

Joker had originally suggested the idea of throwing a party somewhere private. The whole crew had loved the idea, and we had agreed to save it for the last night. I had an apartment here on the Citadel, which Liara had arranged for me back when I'd been uncovering Prothean data discs in the Terminus Systems.

I had used this apartment to access my cosmic warehouse a few times, but I preferred to use hotel rooms for that as my apartment was a place to relax and not worry about Jump Chain.

"Drinks are in the coolers at the bar. We have levo and dextro beer, wine, as well as some ryncol for those of us who can handle it" I announced.

Ryncol was an extremely potent liquor created by the krogan. Its exact composition was unknown to anyone who wasn't a krogon as it melted delicate equipment when tested, but it was clearly a very strong drink, given that it was created by and for the krogan. Humans could drink it, and being gene modded I could handle it better than most. Still it wasn't something you wanted straight up if you valued your liver and kidneys.

"Snacks are in the kitchen. Everyone, make yourselves at home" I continued by saying "But more importantly, have a good time! Cortana start the music!"

Cortana, who was playing the role of dumb VI, did as I wished and a play list Tali had put together, which contained songs of many different genres from different races, began playing. Like any crew on shore leave everyone headed for the bar as soon as they could to either grab a bottle of beer or to pour a glass of wine, the firsts of many I assumed. Meanwhile I headed for the kitchen table in order to sort out the snacks.

"What do you have?" Jacob asked me.

The sight of food had drawn the men to the table.

"Tortilla chips, nacho cheese, tiny sandwiches, tiny sausages, mini pizzas, some sort of dips, devilled eggs" I answered "You know party food. I've also got some dextro-acid stuff that I know nothing about"

Before Garrus could explain what turian food I'd put out Shepard called everyone to the living room.

"Everyone, come here for a minute!" she shouted. "Let's get a photo to remember this. Come over by the couch".

Soon Jacob, Grunt, Thane, Garrus, Mordin, Zeead, and I stood directly behind the couch, while Jack, Goto, Joker, Kelly Chambers, Miranda, Shepard and Samara took seats on the couch or on chairs. Once the photo had been taken we all went to find something to eat.

(Line Break)

The party was a success judging by how happy everyone was.

"Don't worry, we can always… *hiccup*… get another Normandy" Tali was saying We'll just call up… *hiccup*… Cerberus, and ask them to please build us the SR-3".

It was obvious to me that she was already drunk. Tali had gotten nervous about the party, so I'd suggested that she have a drink to take the edge off. She'd apparently had more than one.

"So have you two set the date of your bonding ceremony yet?" Garrus asked Tali and I.

Wait what.

"Its too early for that Garrus" Tali chided "Don't scare him off".

She then hiccuped some more.

"Have I ever told you how cute you are when you hiccup?" I asked the quarian.

Tali giggled

"Have I ever told you how cute you are?" she replied.

She tried to kiss me, but then she remembered she had her visor on which everyone else found amusing as it just led to her softly headbutting me.

"So, is this a Tali-Gothic love nest? I hope we aren't interrupting anything you two might've been… planning." Garrus asked with a sly grin.

I was grateful that Miranda wasn't within earshot, it must be strange for her given that Tali and I had become a romantic partnership. But she seemed to handle it well. Perhaps because she saw becoming part of my harem, which I hadn't really created yet, as a sort of business arrangement. For her it was an opportunity to gain something, for Tali it was as well, but I got the sense that she coming along for me more than for it could benefit her people.

"*hiccup*… Wouldn't you like to know, Garrus" Tali answered.

(Line Break)

Later in the evening I was sufficiently buzzed, and I found myself at the bar. Other people were here too, and sufficiently buzzed also. Tali was totally wasted, which was amusing us all.

"Tali was just about to act out the differences between the original Normandy and the SR-2" Garrus informed me.

Tali raised up her arms like wings, and began her impressions.

"First, the ventilation system. On the SR-1, it sounded like 'shhuuuuuum, shhuuuuuuummm'" she informed us "Of course, the SR-2 is much bigger, so they upgraded. Now it's more 'wuhwuhwuhwuhwuhwuuuuuh'".

Everyone started laughing.

"That's actually what it sounds like!" Jacob agreed.

"Now, if you move further up it's more of a 'tktuh-tktuh-tktuh-tktuh-tktuh'" Tali added.

"Of course, over by the med bay!" Miranda correctly guessed.

"So which one's better?" I asked.

"The SR-2 out performs the original, but we wouldn't have the SR-2 if it wasn't for the original Normandy" Shepard commented.

"It was a great ship!" Tali declared.

"To the Normandy!" Shepard toasted

She lifted her glass into the air.

"To the Normandy!" everyone toasted back.

(Line Break)

 **Apartment. The Citadel.**

The next morning I was hung over, but everything was peaceful. People had either left at some point or had found somewhere to sleep. I was alone in the bedroom with Tali.

"I asked Miranda if I could have a little alone time with you so she's off sorting out supplies for the ship" the quarian told me "How she's not hung over I have no idea".

Miranda had way more gene enhancements than I did. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she couldn't get drunk.

"I have something for you," Tali said, her voice was hesitant, but I could tell that she was determined "I can't exactly link suits with you seeing as you're not a quarian, but I can link with this".

That was when she held out the helmet she'd been holding. I accepted it with a slightly confused look. Then I became more confused as Tali attached a hose to the side of the helmet.

"Oh, right. Sorry," I said when I finally realised what Tali was doing.

She wanted to link suits with me, two quarians did this so that they would adapt to each other. It was something to do with how their immune systems worked. I didn't know the details and I had gene enchaned immune system and a healthy body so I didn't get ill as such I couldn't understand the importance of this act.

Still it meant something to Tali so I slipped the helmet on and secured it in place. It was certainly an unique experience. The helmets were built for comfort, this made sense considering the quarians had to wear them their entire lives, so it was a nice change from the helmet I normally wore when I went into battle.

"Hey I can do my Darth Vader impressions now" I joked.

Rather than reply to that Tali attached the end of the hose to her own helmet and pressed some buttons on her omni-tool. I then heard a soft hiss as the air began circulating between Tali's suit and my helmet.

"I know you were drunk when agreeing to this, but its still matters to me" Tali was now saying "Do you remember that part of last night?".

No I did not.

"So you don't remember that we all went out to get holo tattoos?" the quarian enquired.

Holo tattoos were small devices not actual tattoos, they went under the skin and projected a small hologram onto the skin, making it look like a tattoo. Only it could be switched off and it could sometimes be seen through clothing since they could glow. Like my L5 implants they were easy to maintain and no trouble as long as they were kept clean. In fact getting one inserted into the body took mere moments given how advanced cybernetics were in the galaxy. Still I'd have Chukkas take a quick look at the holo tattoo once I was back on the Normandy.

"Zeead ended up big facking tattoo of a dead collector" Tali informed me "I think he actually got that lasered on. Jack tried to get you to have a naked woman with a sword riding a thresher maw tattooed on your back, but you decided not to".

In this universe they had a thing called omni-tattoos, they were like normals tattoos only done with some sort of lasers and were applied using a specialised version of the omni-tool. They still hurt, but they were done in a fraction of the time that regular tattoos took to apply.

"Hold on Tali" was now saying as she lifted up the back of my shirt "Oh dear".

I had a bad feeling about this.

"You have a naked woman, who is riding a thresher maw while carrying a sword tattooed on you back" Tali informed me "I'm sorry Jack must have changed your mind when I wasn't looking".

Not that big of a deal. I could get it removed without scarring.

"What about the holo tattoo?" I asked.

"Its on your chest, and its the word 'Normandy' in dark blue, we all got that one" Tali informed me "Then I went a little crazy and got an omni-tattoo somewhere else".

That must have been risky, unless the tattoo parlour had come with a sterile room, which it might have done since it would have to cater to different races.

"It was Jack's idea" Tali was now saying "She told me that you'd find it hot".

I had to know.

"Where did you get tattooed and what does it say?" I asked.

I had a feeling that I already knew.

"Let's just say its a name and its somewhere down in the lower wards" Tali answered "You can look for it next time we're in your warehouse. You know give it a proper inspection. With your lips".

Due to the odd nature of the Cosmic Warehouse, Tali didn't have to worry about infections while within the warehouse.

"Sounds like a plan" I replied.

I then reached for the helmet I was still wearing.

"How long do I have to wear this thing?" I asked.

Tali didn't answer that question.

"Just let me enjoy this" she said.

I figured this could take a while.

"Wait did Jack convince you get a dead Collector tattoo as well?" Tali wondered.

I'd worry about that later.


	15. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Collectors

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Part 14**

 **Collectors**

 **CIC. The Normandy.**

Shepard made her way to the galaxy map, intending to set a course to the Krogon homeworld in order to help Grunt with some problem he was having, but then Joker suddenly contacted her over the comm.

"Change of plans, Commander," he said. "Urgent message coming through from the Illusive Man. He's waiting for you in the comm room".

The Spectre frowned. She had a bad feeling about this.

"I'm on my way," said Shepard while making her way over to the comm room.

Once she had arrived the desk sank into the floor.

"Patching the Illusive Man through, Commander," said Joker.

Shepard stepped onto the projector and came face-to-face with the Illusive man, who was currently standing up and smoking a cigarette. He seemed to be right in front of the Spectre, but he was in fact light years away.

"Shepard, we caught a break," he said. "I intercepted a distress call from a turian frigate. They stumbled upon a Collector ship in Korlus system. The turians were wiped out, but not before they crippled the Collector vessel".

The Illusive Man then sat back down in his chair.

"I need you to board that ship and get some hard data on the Collector" he was now saying "Such as finding us a way to get to their homeworld".

Shepard folded her arms over her chest and frowned.

"Hard to imagine how a single turian frigate could take out the Collector ship" she said.

The Normandy had been a state of the art ship and it had been unable to get a shot off when it faced a Collector cruiser. Shepard could only hope that all the upgrades would make a difference when it came time for the second Normandy to avenge the first.

"Reports indicate the hull's intact, but all systems seem to be offline. They could be making repairs as we speak. I'm not saying it won't be dangerous, but we can't let an opportunity like this slip by" said the Illusive Man.

The Spectre was still concerned.

"Are you sure this information is good?" Shepard asked.

The Illusive Man did his best to assure the Commander.

"Send me the coordinates" Shepard said next "And we'll head to the Korlus system".

The Illusive Man lit up another cigarette.

"Already sent. Once you're aboard the ship, establishing an up link with EDI. She'll mine their data for information regarding the Omega 4 relay. Good luck, Shepard" he said.

The hologram then faded away.

"Coordinates punched in," said Joker over the comm. "Let's go find us a Collector ship."

(Line Break)

 **Cockpit. The Normandy.**

"We have a visual on the Collector ship, Commander," said Joker.

While scale was hard to judge when looking at something that was just floating in space, using scanners I discovered that the ship was in fact vast in size, easily dwarfing both the original Normandy and her larger successor, the very ship I was on right now.

As was typical of Collector technology, the vessel was partly organic, and this craft had a metallic superstructure. Which didn't mean it was alive as we might understood the term, but it did seem to made using some sort of biotech.

From playing the game I knew that the interior of the Collector Cruiser consisted of cave-like hallways, similar to that of an insect hive, as well as vast open areas that were traversed by floating hexagonal platforms.

The cruiser was armed with a large particle beam weapon which was capable of multi-directional fire. Also the weapon was capable of firing either multiple shots in quick succession or a single devastating blast. Hopefully the new armour would be able to withstand such a blast.

Being a particle beam weapon, it ignored kinetic barriers, meaning that our new shields, which we'd upgraded when at the Citadel wouldn't be any help should the cruiser then fire on us. Which was bad as the weapon was both powerful and accurate enough to critically damage an Alliance Navy frigate in only a few shots.

Another thing I knew was that the cruiser was equipped with sensors capable of detecting a vessel with a heat retaining stealth system (such as the Normandy), however what kind of scanners they used was a complete mystery. Worryingly this also meant that is was highly likely that the Reapers would also be able to detect the Normandy even when the ship was using its stealth systems.

Worthy of note was that Collector ships were equipped with an advanced Identify Friend/Foe (IFF) system that allowed them to traverse the Omega 4 Relay without harm. It might be possible to grab one of these IFFs while on the cruiser but if we did that then we'd have no reason go to the derelict Reaper and met Legion. Meeting Legion was important in order to bring about peace between the geth and the quarians.

According to reports a cruiser much like this one had recently landed on Fehl Prime having been lured there by a planted artifact of unknown origin. Also the Collectors had no doubt intended to harvest the planet's human population.

Apparently it had carried an all Collector crew, as no Husks or other similar creatures had been sighted taking part in that operation. However I figured he cruiser we would soon board would have husks on board.

As per usual the Collectors had unleashed Seeker Swarms onto the unsuspecting populace of Fel Prime before sending in the drones and pods for the collecting of the paralysed humans.

"EDI any idea what these are?" I asked.

I gestured to the read out which showed what I thought to be weapon emplacements of some sort.

"In addition to forward-facing particle cannon this ship is equipped with point-defence weapons of some kind" the AI told me "I can not be certain but I suspect that they are used against fighters and other small vessels".

Shepard took a look at the readouts.

"What can you tell me about the state of the vessel?" the Spectre asked.

"I'm am detecting very low emissions. Infrared temperatures suggest that most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold as well" reported EDI.

"That thing's massive," said Joker "How the hell did the turians taking out?".

They hadn't.

"Given what one of these ship did the old Normandy, I don't think the turians did disable it" I said Shepard "I think this a trap".

Saying this wouldn't stop the Spectre from boarding the enemy craft, and it wouldn't stop her from dragging me along for the ride, but it was wise to make sure she knew that we'd be springing a trap.

"They might have just gotten lucky," suggested Kasumi.

"We can figure out how the turians did this later, right now we need that information," said Shepard.

Joker moved the Normandy in closer towards the ship. Judging by now nervous he looked he hadn't forgotten what had happened the last time the Normandy had encountered a ship like this.

"Scans do not detect any hull breaches on the side facing us," EDI was now telling us "I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline".

Shepard leaned over to talk to Joker.

"Take us in" she ordered "We're going on board".

Oh joy.

(Line Break)

 **Collector Cruiser.**

"I've never seen a ship like this before," said Samara.

Shepard had pretty much brought everyone with her. I felt a lot better about boarding this ship with a small army with me. It would have been better if we'd be able to bring along Grunt, but he was having his puberty issues.

Jacob and Goto were staying on the shuttle as they often did on such missions. They made a good team when flying. Tali, Mordin and I were staying back from the others so we could take scans of anything interesting the others pointed out.

"Looks like a giant hive," said Garrus "Maybe they took some inspiration from the Rachni. It looks organic".

Given the Collectors predated any Rachni by tens of thousands of years this was unlikely.

"I don't think so," said Tali. "This ship doesn't match anything we have the records about Rachni vessels".

Still if it looked like anything it looked a termite hive. If the termites had space travel technology.

"Judging by the layout, they live and work like drones" Mordin observed.

Clearly he was thinking along the same lines as the rest of us.

"My scans have detected an access node uplink to the Collector databanks" said EDI "I will guide you to it".

We had an open comm channel so we could all hear her. This wasn't very secure but it was important for us all to stay in contact with each other and the Normandy.

"Okay, everyone keep your eyes peeled for any Collectors," said Shepard as we began to move out "We'll take this nice and slow, try not alert anyone".

Oh they so knew we were here.

"Shepard. I have compared the ship's EM signature to the known Collector profiles," said EDI over the radio. "It is the same vessel you encountered on Horizon".

"Maybe the defence towers softened it up for the turians," Shepard mused.

"That might mean the missing colonists might be aboard," said Garrus. "If they're still alive".

As we made our way through the ship we found more of the pods that we'd found on Horizon. These were empty, and we had scans of them already, so we kept on moving and found something completely and utterly disturbing, a bunch of dead bodies that had been piled up like they were trash.

"Why would the Collectors just leave a pile of bodies lying around?" Garrus asked.

"They must have been used for testing," said Mordin. "If they were a control group, they would have been discarded at the end of the experiment. Wasteful. Unethical".

I found a door and we went through it to find what I could only think of as an armoury. The modified Protheans had gathered weapons here of many different makes, for study I assumed, and also stored some of their own. Within I found what had to be a Collector SMG, which I got Tali to carry since she didn't lug a rifle around. Then I grabbed what looked to be a Collector made sniper rifle. Neither of these weapons had been seen used in battle, but since the Collectors had been hitting colonies they'd been able to pacify with seeker swarms perhaps the Collectors just hadn't seen the need to arm themselves with SMGs and sniper rifles. Tali and I would examine these weapons later and try to make some useful upgrades using this tech.

We carried on down the chamber and soon found some sort of terminal, not the one we needed to access but it could contain handy information, with EDI's help Shepard managed to hack into the systems and Mordin began to look over the data.

The rest of us approached a pod and we saw a Collector inside of it.

"That's a Collector," I heard Garrus say "Were they experimenting on one of their own?".

Seemed odd to me as they should already understand their own biology. I could understand them running tests on humans, they were trying to make a Reaper out of the people they were taking, but there was no advantage I could see to cutting open one of their own.

"EDI, I'm uploading the data from this terminal," said Shepard over the radio "See if you can figure out what they were up to"

"Data received. Analysing," said EDI. "The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity".

"Are they looking for similarities?" Shepard asked.

"I have no hypothesis on their motivations. All I have is their preliminary results. They reveal what we already suspected. A quad-strand genetic structure, identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans"

Shepard looked at me.

"So you were right the Protheans became the Collectors" she muttered.

I'd told the Commander about this a while back, claiming that the Cipher had filled me in. Which in part it had as I could remember being a Prothean and fighting the early versions of the Collectors back when they'd been simple husks. The Collectors of this day and age were a bit different, but not radically so.

"These are no longer Protheans" said EDI. "Their genes show distinct signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them to suit their needs".

Like when they changed the humans on Eden Prime to husks.

"No species should have to suffer through that," Garrus stated.

Both Mordin and I took some scans of the medical machines the Collectors used. I had no idea what I'd do with the data, but it could be worth something. If nothing else the Alliance might pay for it. I also noted that Mordin and Tali pocketed some small tools. The stuff might have been used for unethical tests, but such devices could save lives in the future if studied and replicated.

"Let's find what we need before the Collectors either repair or recover this ship" Shepard ordered "or if its a trap".

"Liara always wanted to study the Protheans" said Tali as we made our way through the ship "but I'm glad she isn't here to see this".

We'd left her on the Shadow Brokers ship. She had a lot do on that craft. She'd found no mention of the Crucible, but the Broker still might have had information on the Reapers that could aid the war effort.

"A grim fate indeed," said Thane. "The Collectors are nothing more than victims of the Reapers".

"Killing them would be a mercy," said Samara.

We soon entered into a massive chamber and found more pods attached to the walls and ceiling. There had to be thousands of them.

"Look up on the ceiling," said Garrus as he gestured "More of those strange pods".

"I wonder how many are occupied?" Samara mused.

"Too many," said Shepard grimly

Whole colonies worth of people.

"I detect no signs of life in the pods, Shepard," said EDI. "It is probable the victims inside died when the ship lost primary power".

Which meant that the Collectors had killed hundred if not thousands of people just make it look like the ship had lost power due a turian frigate making a lucky shot.

"That's not much of a comforting thought, EDI," said Shepard

We kept on going proceeding deeper and deeper into the ship. As of yet we had no met any resistance which made us all feel uneasy.

"Gothic's right this has to be a trap" I heard Miranda whisper.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Joker's voice. I was on edge. I kept expecting a Collector to jump out and start shooting at us.

"Commander. You gotta hear this," he said. "On a hunch, I asked EDI to run an analysis on this ship".

"I have compared the EM profile of this ship against the data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago," said EDI. "They are an exact match".

Given what had happened to the first Normandy I could only assume that information had been recorded on some sort of black box which had survived the attack. That or someone had transmitted sensor readings before the Collectors made that impossible.

"The same ship dogging me two years ago?" said Shepard. "Way beyond coincidence".

Indeed.

"So this is the same ship that destroyed the original Normandy," said Zeead "Yeah I'm on board with the whole trap idea".

"Keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual" Shepard ordered "Well more unusual".

That was when we entered an even bigger chamber, one that was also lined with pods, and there had to be tens of thousands of them, maybe hundreds of thousands.

"Fuck" swore Jack.

That did sort of sum it up.

"They could take every human in the Terminus Systems and still not have enough people to fill these pods," said Miranda.

"They're going to target Earth" Zeead said.

Somehow I doubted humanity's homeworld would fall even to an attack by several Collector cruisers. But yeah they could hit one of the major colonies.

"We need to find out where their homeworld is and attack them before they get a chance to attack us," said Shepard.

"Look there on that platform," Garrus said as he pointed "Might be some kind of control panel."

Shepard then began to access the control console and she activated her omnitool as she began her work.

"EDI? I'm setting up a bridge between you and the Collector ship. See if you can get anything useful from the data banks" the commander said.

"Data-mine in progress, Shepard," replied EDI.

Then the lights went off and the platform shook.

"Major power surge," Joker told us over the radio "Everything went dark, but we're backup now".

"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to non-critical systems," said EDI.

Suddenly the platform we were standing on began to rise up and began to rotate.

"We need a little help here, EDI" said Shepard.

At this point I considered unleashing Cortana, but given how badly she'd faired aganist the Geth programs on board one of their ships I didn't want to risk her going up against whatever thing it was giving EDI so much trouble.

"I am having trouble maintaining connection. There is someone else in the system" the AI informed.

Suddenly the platform stopped moving

"Connection re-established," said EDI. "I need to finish the download before I can override any further systems".

That was when I noted another platform heading towards us.

"Incoming" Garrus, who already taking aim with his sniper rifle, warned us.

Samara, Miranda, and I protected everyone with barriers while Jack used her super powers to send a Collector troopers flying off the platforms. The others just kept shooting as more Collectors appeared.

"Eighty-four percent," said EDI.

I hadn't even realised that she'd been counting. My attention was totally focused on the barrier I was keeping up. Tali had her shotgun and was using to blast any alien who got too close to the barrier.

"EDI! Get us out of here!" Shepard yelled.

"I am simultaneously fighting Collector firewalls in over 8000 nodes. I am tasked to capacity" she replied.

"Here they come again!" Garrus yelled as yet another platform appeared.

This wasn't good.

"We're getting overwhelmed," said Thane.

Suddenly one of the collector troopers began to do that whole glowly thing like what had happened on Horizon. No doubt the Collector was possessed by Harbinger the same way Saren had been possessed during that fight on the Citadel.

"Shepard, you must manually re-establish my link the command console," said EDI.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shepard activated her omnitool and re-establish the link with the command console. The hologram of EDI soon appeared

"I have regained control of this platform, Shepard," she said.

We were now moving away from the Collectors.

"I knew you would let us down, EDI," Shepard replied.

God bless AI!

"I always work at optimal capacity," said EDI.

"Did you get what we needed?" Shepard asked.

"I found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega 4 relay. I've also found the turian distress call. The Collectors were the source of the transmission, which confirms that this is a trap".

Well duh.

"The transmission is unusual because turian emergency channels have secondary encryptions which are not present in this message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine" EDI was now saying.

"Why are you so sure?" asked Shepard.

"Because I discovered the lack of secondary encryptions using Cerberus detection protocols. Which the Illusive Man created" the AI informed.

"He knew it was a trap?" said Joker over the radio "Why would he send us into a trap?"

Shepard swore just as loudly as Jack did.

"We should have known this would happen," said Tali. "Cerberus can't be trusted!".

"There has to be some other explanation!" said Miranda. "The Illusive Man wouldn't do this to us. He… he just wouldn't".

I'd warned her that he wasn't be trusted, and it seemed that Miss Lawson hadn't believed me.

"Uh… Commander," said Joker. "We've got another problem. The Collector ship is powering up. You need to get out before their weapons come online. I'm not losing another Normandy!".

It was time to leave.

"I do not have full control of their systems," said EDI. "I will do what I can. I am sending coordinates for shuttle extraction".

"Come on. Let's move!" Shepard ordered

Now we really running. I felt as if I guest staring in an episode of Doctor Who.

"So can we discuss our arrangement with Cerberus?" Garrus asked

This wasn't the time or the place.

"The Illusive Man wouldn't do this," said Miranda firmly. "Not without a good reason".

Maybe he was already under the influence of the Reapers.

"Don't you think you're a little too trusting when it comes to Cerberus?" Tali asked.

Jack took a moment insult the Illusive Man, and his mother.

"No, the boss wouldn't fund this mission and then betray us when we're halfway through" Miranda replied "If nothing else it wouldn't be cost effective".

"We can discuss this once were safely out of danger," said Shepard.

I wasn't sure if the Collectors had been in stasis all this time and were now waking up, or if they'd just found a way to mask their life signs. What I did know was that they were certainly determined to prevent us from escaping their ship.

Fortunately, EDI had some control of the ship and closed the doors we weren't using, preventing us from being overrun. Unfortunately, the Collectors, or maybe some AI they controlled, were also doing the same thing and they closed a door we needed to use.

"EDI? We've got a problem here," said Shepard.

"A temporary setback on firewall 3217. Reliving command through firewall 7164," said EDI over the comm. "I have successfully opened a door on the opposite wall. I will keep it open as long as I can".

We all ran through the door and managed to get threw before it closed.

"Down there," Garrus shouted out while pointing "That's where we came in".

I could see it.

"We must be getting close to the end," said Samara.

The Collectors seemed to be aware of this too, and as such they had deployed a lot of troopers to try to stop us from leaving.

Samara proved useful by using her biotics to shield as many of us as she could, and I did the same. Tali unleashed a drone to distract the Collectors while Thane and Garrus used their sniper rifles to take as many Collectors down as possible. The rest did what they could with what they had.

"Uh, Commander?" said Joker over the radio. "Hate to rush you, but those weapons are about to come online. You might want to double-time it. You know, so we can leave before they blow the Normandy in half",

"You heard him, move! Move!" Shepard yelled.

We all then ran as fast as we could done a corridor and soon encountered a group of husks. They would have overwhelmed us if it hadn't been for Samara and Miranda using their biotics to push them back. Even I got in on the action despite having already used my boitcs rather a lot during this mission.

Once they were dealt with we continued to follow the passage way down and soon enough found the corridor we first used when we'd arrived. The shuttle was still there waiting for us and we didn't waste any time making our way over towards it.

"We're out of time, Commander! We have to go!" said Joker.

"You heard the man, everyone onto the Normandy! Move!" Shepard yelled as she fired his assault rifle at the Collectors.

We all quickly got onto the shuttle and the small craft exited the ship

(Line Break)

 **Comm Room. The Normandy.**

"Call coming from the Illusive Man," said Joker. "I figure you'll want to have a few words with him.

Shepard nodded and entered into the comm room just as the desk lowered and a moment later she stepped into the hologram projector. Soon she could see the Illusive Man who was sitting down in his chair, smoking and drinking.

"Shepard. Looks like EDI extracted some interesting data before the Collector ship came back online," he said

Shepard narrowed her eyes, and she glared at the leader of Cerberus. If looks could kill he'd be a corpse already.

"EDI told us the distress call originated from the Collectors. You betrayed us. Just like I knew you would" said the Spectre.

"We're at war. The Collectors are taking humans, and every minute we wait only gives the enemy more time to attack us" the Illusive Man replied.

"I know the stakes," Shepard said "But we're supposed to be on the same side, and I can't trust you".

"Without that information, we can't reach the Collector homeworld. And you and every other human may as well be dead" the Illusive Man stated.

He then snuffed out his cigarette and stood up.

"It was a trap" agreed the Illusive Man "but I was confident in your abilities. And don't forget EDI. The collectors couldn't have anticipated her".

"You could have told me the plan," said Shepard angrily. "You say I'm important, but you sure as hell try your best to get me killed".

"I needed the Collectors to believe they have the upper hand" the Illusive Man argued "Telling you could've tipped them off in any number of ways. Besides. I wouldn't have sent you in if I didn't think you could succeed".

Shepard folded her arms over her chest.

"I don't risk my people like that" she said "There are always alternatives".

"Try as might to avoid them, these decisions need to be made" The Illusive Man then said as he sat back down in his chair. "But more importantly it paid off. EDI confirmed our suspicions".

The Illusive Man then picked up a fresh cigarette and started to smoke it.

"The Reapers and Collector ships use advanced Identical Friend/Foe system that the relays recognise. All we need to do is to get our hands on one of those IFFs" he said.

Was that all.

"I'm guessing you have a plan," Shepard said.

"We have a science team working on a derelict Reaper right now. All I need you to do is go pick up its IFF" the Illusive Man replied,

Shepard stared at him for a moment.

"Where did you find a derelict Reaper?" she asked.

She was surprised that she'd not heard about this either on the news if it had gone public or through a source like Liara if it was being kept hidden.

"An Alliance science team recently determined that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater for mass accelerator weapon" The Illusive Man told Shepard, taking a drink before he continued. "A very old mass accelerator. I sent a team to fight either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us what the flight path of the intended target. Which is a 37 million year old derelict Reaper. We found the Reaper damage and trapped in the gravity well of a brown dwarf".

Shepard had to admit that entering into a derelict Reaper while it was orbiting a gas giant might be a bit much for even her.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to be a simple 'swing by and pick up our package' deal?" she said.

The Illusive Man nodded.

"We lost contact with Dr Chandana's team shortly after they boarded. Initial reconnaissance reveals no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources, but now we need that IFF" the Illusive man said "I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. In the meantime I suggest you tell your team that they didn't risk their lives unnecessarily. It will make things easier going forward".

The Spectre sighed as the transmission came to an end.

"EDI. tell the crew to assemble," said Shepard. "We've got a lot to talk about"

"Of course, Shepard," said EDI.

(Line Break)

 **Comm Room. The Normandy.**

Once more we were having a group meeting. Well most of us were here.

"So the Illusive Man didn't sell it out," said Jacob. "Could've fooled me".

"Lied to us. Used us. Need to access the Collector databanks," said Mordin as he paced up and down. "Necessary risk"

"There really wasn't any other choice," said Miranda "Let's just hope this IFF works".

It annoyed me that she still had some loyalty to the Illusive Man, and I wondered if she'd ever have that kind of faith in me. Not that it mattered in the short term. I needed her to follow Shepard not me.

"My analysis is accurate," said EDI. "We will require a Reaper IFF".

Which meant we were going to met Legion. Tali was not going to be happy.

"I have also determined the approximate location of the Collector homeworld based on the navigation data from their vessel" the AI informed everyone.

EDI then showed us a map of the entire galaxy and began to move an icon across it. We all watched as the icon got closer and closer towards the galactic core.

"That can't be right," said Jacob.

"EDI doesn't make mistakes," said Shepard as she leaned over the map. "The Collector homeworld is located somewhere in the galactic core".

Well more like home space station.

"Can't be. The core is just black holes and exploding suns. There are no habitable planets there" Jacob argued.

"Could be an artificial construction," said Mordin, who looked very intrigued now. "Space station protected by powerful mass effect fields and radiation shields. Reapers have shown to have advanced understanding of mass effect technology".

"The Collectors are just servants of our real enemy. And we've all seen what their masters are capable of" Shepard was now saying "The Reapers built the mass relays and the Citadel. Who's to say they can't build a space station surrounded by black holes?".

I knew that they could, and it made me wonder how many other surprises the Reapers had stashed away in some dark corner of the galaxy.

"No wonder no body's ever return from a trip through the Omega 4 mass relay" I heard Garrus mutter.

"The logical conclusion is that a small safe zone exists on the far side of the relay," said EDI. "A region where ships can survive. Standard relay transmit protocols would not allow safe transport. Drift of several thousand kilometres on in common, and would be fatal in the galactic core. The Reaper IFF must trigger the relay to use more advanced, encrypted protocols".

I knew this to be true.

"Just because we can follow the Collectors through the relay doesn't mean we can take them out. I don't want to go after them until I know we're ready" Shepard was now saying.

"Sooner or later we need that IFF," said Jacob. "I say, why wait?"

Miranda wasn't so sure.

"It's derelict Reaper, sure, but the team the Illusive Man sent have stopped calling in" she said "Maybe the Collectors found out what the team was up to. If they are baiting us for another trap I don't want to walk into it, we barely got off the Collector cruiser".

She was right. Even when aware of the trap, it had been very close. If we'd taken a few seconds more to reach the shuttle the cruiser would have been able to fire on the Normandy.

"It's your call, Commander," said Jacob. "Whatever you decide, we're with you".

Shepard gave it some thought.

"We'll we need to get Grunt sorted out before we do anything else" she decided "So get us to the Krogan homeworld ASAP".

With that we all went our separate ways. I had some work to do with Tali, which involved looking at the Collector weapons we'd looted.


	16. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Krogan

**Author Note**

This story is now longer than the first one. Which I think is good as I did promise it would be. I'm still looking for ideas about Jumps people suggest places but they don't say why I should go there. Jumps needs a reason to happen.

 **Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Krogan**

 **Shuttle. On Route to Krogan Homeworld.**

I looked around the shuttle and I felt better about laid ahead when reminding myself that both Tali and Garrus were coming along with Shepard, Grunt, Zeead, Thane, and I. Between us we should be enough to get through the Grunt's Rite

No doubt Wrex will be happy to see us, and this wouldn't be a surprise for him as I'd already messaged Liara asking to let Wrex know that we were coming. She'd been sending Wrex important information that had aided his rise to power ever seen she'd become a dealer of info.

"So what's this Urdnot Wrex like?" the merc asked me.

I thought about my answer.

"Well he's really old, and kinda cranky. Like you I guess. Only, more violent" I replied "Oh and he has impressive boitics".

I could well remember that time on Virmire when Wrex had effortlessly lifted three geth platforms into the air, and then had blasted them with his shotgun. That was one of my stronger memories, and while it might not be a good memory, it was one that made me think this whole Jump Chain thing was worthwhile.

"All krogan violent," commented Mordin.

Well he wasn't wrong.

"Wrex is almost one of the more intelligent krogan you'll ever met" I went on to say "He can be down right reasonable compared to most of his kind".

Zeead looked as if he was deep in thought.

"So, he's a bigger, more power and more violent version of me " the merc said "I like him already".

I smiled upon hearing that.

"And he hardly talked to anyone," added Garrus "Gothic and I were the only ones who ever took the time to talk him to back on the original Normandy. And it took him some time to warm up to us, when we fought together on Virmire, that's when we became true friends".

Well we'd talked before then, but the turian was right. Wrex had mostly kept to himself until then.

"I wonder how far he's gotten in uniting the clans of Tuchanka?" I asked, mostly of myself.

"We will find out soon enough," said Tali "Assuming we ever find a landing padd".

That could be some trouble.

"The entire planet was nuked back when the Krogan first got that technology," I said Tali. "So I suspect we'll be heading underground".

"They bombed their own planet?" Tali asked.

Having lost her world to the geth it made sense that the young quarian would see a world as too valuable to harm. Humans had come close to ruining Earth, but thankfully we'd pulled back from that madness. Still it had been close, our world could have ended up looking like the home of the krogans.

"Violence an integral part of krogan culture," said Mordin. "Bombed themselves when our species found them. Sad state of affairs. Still made perfect grunts against rachni".

Before joining the greater galaxy the krogan were pretty much a primitive tribal species trapped on a world suffering through a nuclear winter of their own making some generations before.

They were liberated from this state by the salarians, who "culturally uplifted" the krogan by giving them advanced technology and relocating them to a planet not cursed with lethal levels of radiation, toxins or deadly predators.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out if the salarians had helped bring about that nuclear winter just so they could come in and save the Krogons later on.

The salarian intervention was not without an ulterior motive. At the time the Citadel was engaged in a prolonged galactic war with the rachni, a race of intelligent space-faring insectoids. The salarians hoped the krogan would join the Citadel forces as soldiers who were able to stand against an otherwise unstoppable foe.

As plans went it worked within two generations the rapidly breeding krogan had the numbers required to drive the advancing rachni back, and they could take the fight to the rachni due to their ability to endure the harsh conditions. They were able to pursue the bugs to their home worlds, find the rachni queens, and eradicate the entire species.

Well officially they had. Those who had served on the original Normandy as well as some high ranking officials knew that one ranchi queen was still alive.

For a brief period the krogan were hailed as the saviours of the galaxy and were given not only the conquered rachni worlds, but other planets in Citadel space to colonise, in gratitude for their help. The Citadel Council even commissioned a statue for the Presidium—the Krogan Monument—to honour the krogan soldiers who died defending Citadel space.

But without the harsh conditions of Tuchanka to keep their numbers in check, the krogan population swelled to unprecedented numbers. Due to overcrowding and because they were running low on resources, the krogan spread out to forcibly claim other world. Worlds that were already inhabited by races loyal to the Citadel.

This was somewhat tolerated for a while, however when the krogan began settling on the asari colony of Lusia, the Council ordered them to leave, which they didn't.

Overlord Kredak, the krogan ambassador at the time, stormed out of the Chambers, daring the Citadel races to take their worlds back. War broke out soon after ward. The resultant Krogan Rebellions continued for nearly three centuries. The krogan sustained massive casualties, but their incredible birth rate kept their population steadily increasing. Victory seemed inevitable.

In desperation, the Council turned to the recently discovered Turian Hierarchy for aid. The turians unleashed the genophage on the krogan home worlds: a terrifying bio-weapon engineered by the salarians. The genophage caused near total infant mortality in the krogan species, with only 1 birth in every 1000 producing live offspring.

No longer able to replenish their numbers, the krogan were forced to accept terms of surrender. For their role in quelling the Krogan Rebellions, the turians were rewarded with a seat on the Citadel Council. The krogan, on the other hand, still suffer the genophage leaving them a scattered and dying people.

Some try bizarre treatments for the genophage, including testicle transplants. But, faced with the certainty of their extinction as a species, most krogan have become individualistic and completely self-interested. They typically served as mercenaries for hire to the highest bidder, though many still resent and despise the Citadel races that condemned them to their tragic fate.

"Why don't they clean-up their world?" Tali wondered.

"The clean-up would be enormous" Garrus replied "Not to mention a waste of the krogan's time."

"You've got that right," agree Grunt. "I'm not a worker. I was born to fight! We were all born to fight!".

I turned to Tali.

"And now you know why this planet is a pile of rubble" I said to her.

(Line Break)

 **Landing Padd. Krogan Homeworld.**

As the shuttle found a landing padd we all piled out of the craft and were met by the local welcoming committee. Only they weren't very welcoming.

"You, aliens" a krogan said by way of greeting. "Your kind are not welcome on this planet".

Another Krogan stepped forward.

"The clan chief is expecting them" he stated.

And that was that, we were allowed to enter what passed for a settlement on this godforsaken rock. Since there wasn't that much to see if you don't like rubble, we soon found our way to wreak. He was holding court.

"The clan chief is in a meeting with the leader of the Gatatog clan," said the krogan. "You'll have to wait until he summons you"

This made me smile.

"I have a feeling Wrex will cancel the meeting once he realises who is here to see him" the Spectre told the alien.

3.2.1

"Shepard!" Wrex yelled.

The Spectre grinned.

"If you'll excuse me, I have an old friend to catch up with" the commander said.

I looked over at Wrex, who had gotten up from what looked to be some sort of throne, and he broadest smile on his face I've ever seen. I find myself smiling back as we make my way over to him.

"Shepard" he exclaimed jovially. "My friend!".

I didn't recall them being this chummy. So either Wrex was really glad for the distraction from this meeting, or Shepard coming from the dead was getting him all emotional.

"Oh you and brought Gothic" Wrex when he acknowledged my presence

"It's been a while since last we spoke in person" I said.

That must have been shortly after we'd defeated Saren. I'd sent messages, and I'd even arranged for some resources to find there way to Wrex during this rise to power.

"It has indeed," commented the krogan as he moved back a bit "But I've been busy. I knew as soon as I saw Sovereign that my people would have to unite if we were to have a chance at surviving what is to come".

And he was right.

"He abandoned many traditions to get his way" another Krogan commented "Dangerous behaviour".

Wrex turned to Uvenk, if I remembered his named correctly, then with a rather harsh pounding sound Wrex headbutted Uvenk. The green-crested krogan fell to his knees.

"Speak when spoken to, Uvenk," said leader of the Urdnot clan. "I'll drag your clan to glory whether it likes it or not".

After that Wrex sat down on his throne as if nothing had happened.

"So you and the quarian have got something going, eh? About damn time, I say" the clan leader said with a short laugh.

I had no idea how he knew about that. Maybe Liara told him, or maybe he can just pick up these things.

"What to you mean?" I asked, acting all Innocent.

"Oh, don't act like we were all blind!" said Wrex with a smirk plastered on his face. "I could at least see that there was something going on between you two even when you were screwing Ashley. You and Tali were always playing some tech together or off talking in some quiet corner".

I guess we had been like that.

"So how's the Normandy?" he was now asking Shepard.

"Gone, and now, we're working with funding from Cerberus, who built us a new Normandy so we can fight the Collectors," she said "The Alliance isn't happy".

Wrex chuckled.

"Well, you have a strong new ship, and you look good for having bee spaced," the krogan stated "The joys of a redundant nervous system".

"Yeah... uh... humans don't have that," I comment.

"Oh," he said, while looking at Shepard with sympathy "It must have hurt a lot, then"

The commander nodded.

"Well I'm here now" she said "That's what matters".

Wrex smiled.

"And I see you've brought some of the old team with you. I never thought I'd ever see a turian, and a quarian here, and there's a salarain too, strange times".

Wrex turned to face Garrus.

"You know your kind isn't exactly welcome on Tuchanka by most krogan" he reminded.

Garrus chuckled.

"I managed to piss off every merc company on Omega" said the turian "A few unhappy krogan don't concern me".

Wrex then took a moment to study Grunt. He even leaned over so he could sniff the young Krogan.

"A tank-bred?" asked Wrex "Why did you bring him here?"

Shepard stepped forward.

"He was made by Warlord Okeer to be perfect, but there seems to be something wrong with him," said the commander. "Lately, he's been banging up his room a lot. All he says is that he needs to kill things. We were wondering if you knew anything about this".

Wrex laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with him," he then said "He's just becoming an adult".

"He is not a true krogan! He was made by a madman!" the krogan who sounded like Micheal Dorn protested.

Grunt turned to him, and stared the green crested Krogan down. Uvenk seemed to cower slightly, as the tank bred went on about who was distilled from. By the end of it the annoying krogan walked away.

"The Rite is a ritual every young krogan goes through" Wrex explained once things had settled down "We allow... uhm...?

"His name's Grunt" I supplied.

Wrex didn't respond to the name.

"We allow Grunt here to take on the Rite. When he goes through it, I'll guarantee you won't have him banging around the deck anymore" Wrex told us.

"Okay, that sounds like a solution" Shepard said "But I have another issue I need to bring up with you, actually. Mordin?"

With this, the salarian scientist came forward.

"Mordin here is looking for a salarian student of his," Shepard explained. A guy Maelon. We heard he had been kidnapped by the Blood Pack and was brought here.

Wrex nodded

"He's probably being held by Clan Weyrloc, then," the clan chief informed us "You can talk to the Urdnot scout about it. He'll be able to tell you more"

Shepard nodded

"And who do I talk to about Grunt's Rite?" she enquired.

"Talk to the clan's shaman," said Wrex while pointing "The scout should be by the land rovers. And the shaman is in an upstairs area. "Speak to them".

We headed for the shaman first.

(Line Break)

 **On Route to the Proving Grounds. Krogan homeworld.**

The Tomka tank we rode in was like a mako on steroids. It had clearly been purpose built for the krogan, and while sitting inside it I once more like a kid being taken out in the car by my parents, still I consdidered trying to squeeze one into my cosmic warehouse.

As for riding in the tank, it helped that were other non-Krogan with me. Mordin hadn't been allowed to come with us, the shaman had describe it as an offence to the krogans to allow a salarian to go through the Rite after what they'd done to the krogan people. The lizard man had returned to the shuttle with no argument. Oddly they'd had no problem with us bringing Garrus, perhaps because he was a fighter.

As we drove out of the Urdnot compound and into the wasteland I wished for a window, but this was a tank so there were no windows. I was sure Legion would have approved.

The krogan driving didn't speak during the trip and the Shaman similarly sat silently. Grunt, who was clearly struggling to hold onto his aggression. Also didn't speak.

In fact none one spoke until we arrived at the Proving Grounds.

"This is Tuchanka's most recent scar. The keystone is at the heart" the shaman was saying to Grunt as the tank began to slow down "It has survived wars and the passage of centuries. It endures, like the krogan. If you wish to join Clan Urdnot you must contemplate the keystone and its trials"

Grunt spoke, suddenly much calmer.

"What will happen?" the tank bred asked.

"Who knows? You must adapt, and survive no matter what happens. Any true krogan will"

The tomka slid to a halt in a pile of gravel and the back opened up. No more words were exchanged, but the message was clear, it was time to go. Once we were off the tank, the Tomka reversed and disappeared into the ruins of the city.

Garrus gestured with his assault rifle to the enormous tower sitting in the centre of the courtyard.

"That must be the keystone" she said.

"And there's some sort of control panel next to it" Thane told us.

I saw Grunt take out his shotgun.

"Let's go" he said.

Shepard also took out her weapon.

"Led the way Grunt" she said "This is your Rite we'll start when you're ready".

A few moments later the tank bred was over by the panel, and he was pressing a big button. Soon the keystone began to rise up the side of the tower, a krogan voice booming out from unseen speakers.

"First the krogan conquered Tuchanka, and mastered a natural world only we are fit to hold".

The stone slammed down and the courtyard shook, dust filled the air, blinding us all I assumed, but my hearing recovered quickly. Which allowed me to hear the snarling of varren.

Grunt bellowed in joy.

"I will take these dogs alone!" he yelled ou "Leave them to me."

"Shepard?" I heard Garrus say.

The commander didn't seem concerned.

"It's his call Garrus. It's his Rite" she said.

"He doesn't have the training to deal with this situation" the turian argued.

"We can't break krogan tradition. We are his krant, it's that simple" she said "Just be prepared to back him up if he gets overwhemled".

The first pack of varren pounced into the courtyard, focusing on Grunt and growling as they approached him. The shotgun boomed, once, twice, a third time, and three varren dropped. Grunted swapped out his heat sink as more of the dog things headed his way. He fired six shots and killed this group, but a third pack were now coming at Grunt for behind.

"On your left!" Zeead warned.

"Stay out of this," he yelled back.

He struggled to reload as they advanced on him. The lead two varren pounced and he cut them down, but two had moved to flank him, and as he swung his shotgun like a club they jumped him, grabbing an arm each while the fifth member of the pack charged him from the front, bowling him over. He roared as they dug at his armour, struggling hard.

"I have a shot" the turian reportred.

"Not yet, Garrus" Shepard ordered.

"I'm not going to let them tear him apart" the former cop said.

"Hold your fire!" Shepard yelled.

We stood there as the tank bred krogan wrestled with the dog like creatures, they should have torn him apart, but somehow Grunt was able to beat them.

Then he made it back to the keystone and rested a hand on the panel, which resulted in blood smearing the electronic device.

"Shepard" Grunted whispered.

His voice had been so soft that I almost didn't hear it over the howling of the wind.

"Grunt" Shepard replied.

"I need…"

That was all he needed to say, and now I understood why Shepard had nearly let Grunt die. The young Krogan needed to understand the value of working as part of a team.

"Everyone spread out and take postions" Shepard ordered "Grunt when your ready press the button".

I saw the young krogan nod as he slammed his fist against the keystone mechanism. Once more the mighty stone rose into the air as the voice boomed.

"Then the krogan were lifted to the stars, to destroy the fears of a galaxy. An enemy only we could chase to their lair"

"Harvester!" Garrus yelled

Harvesters are huge creatures that inhabit several worlds throughout the galaxy, including Tuchanka and Tarith.

The large creature were highly aggressive who didn't tolerate other predators entering their terroity. Their primary means of attack was to drop klixen on people like it was doing now.

This could mean that the harvesters either birth klixen or simply pick them up and relocate them. Either way that suggested a rather fiendish intelligence; the harvesters are smart enough to use klixen both as shock troops and, failing that, as mobile ordnance.

During the Reaper invasion of the galaxy, numerous harvesters were corrupted and utilized by the Reapers as troop transports, atmospheric superiority craft, and ground support. But that hadn't happened yet in this version of Mass Effect.

While it was possible that the Harvesters were highly intelligent the Klixen were likely not sapient. They were however dangerous since they had some sort of fire breathing capabilitie, and they exploded violently when killed, and their insides were acidic.

They were somewhat like rachni, only these creatures were blood red and moved differently. Having seen real rachni in person I knew that these were a different species.

The gigantic bug was unconcerned with the fire coming from our assault rifles, instead the Harvester landed a short distance away and despoisted some of the Klixen.

"Crawlers" Grunt growled.

I switched from my Geth pulse rifle, having chosen not to use my particle rifle during this mission, to my geth plasma shotgun, which I soon used to make one of the bugs exploded, scorching the floor around it. A second crawler spat fire towards me, but thankfully it didn't have the range and I blasted it too.

"Switch to cyro rounds!" I heard someoen shout.

I couldn't since I wasn't using weapons that allowed for specialied ammo, but the others could and as it turned out freezing them solid prevented the explosion. Grunt laughed with glee as he ran from frozen form to frozen form, shattering them with the butt of his shotgun.

Just as the last one scattered across the floor we heard a scream coming from above. The Harvester had returned as soon as it was in range we opened fire. It crashed to the floor, and that seemed to the end of this part of the Rite.

"I'm out of heat sinks" Grunt complained.

"Check the bodies" Shepard ordered.

I looked to see that Garrus was already collecting heat sinks, and before long he was handing them out to those who needed them. There were weapons scattered about to, but they were clearly inferior to what we already had.

"What's next?" I asked "A thresher maw?".

We all exchanged looks, and I knew that everyone was now thinking about that. Hopefully they could mentally prepare at least somewhat for the thing we were about to face.

Thresher maws were subterranean carnivores that spent their entire lives either eating or searching for something to eat. They were enormous, violent creatures that had the nasty habit of bursting up from the ground without warning.

They reproduced via spores that could lie dormant for millennia and the spores were tough enough to survive prolonged periods in deep space and even atmospheric re-entry.

As a result of this, thresher maw lives on many worlds, having been spread about by previous generations of space travelers who likley hadn't know what they were transporting. Thankfully none had ever made it to Earth.

The Alliance first encountered threshers on a world called Akuze back in 2177. After contact was lost with the pioneer team, marine units were deployed to investigate. The shore parties were set upon by a thresher maw, and nearly the entire assault force was killed

"Now all krogan bear the genophage. Our reward. Our curse. It is a fight where the only goal is survival".

The keystone slammed to earth, but the shaking continued long after it the maw hammer had hit the ground.

"Feel that? Everything is shaking" Grunt was now saying "I am ready".

The monster made an apperence, bursting up out of the ground, when it did grit, dust and some sort of goo, covered us. I was lucky to avoid getting much of the muck on me. Other people weren't so fortunate.

"It slimed me!" Tali shouted.

Hopefully that stuff wasn't corrosive, but I didn't have much time to think about that as soon the shooting started.

(Line Break)

 **Proving Grounds. Krogon Homeword.**

I just laid there on the dirty ground in silence for several long minutes after it had finally disappeared, I was not sure whether it was truly dead or not, I'd just stopped carring. I was so tired.

When I had finally forced myself to stand up, I saw that while no one was in a good shape none of us were dead, or that badly wounded. Although I was pretty sure that were all battered and bruised.

"Is it over?" Tali asked.

"I think so" Shepard "Any suit ruptures".

Tali nodded.

"Just the one. I've isolated the wound and sealed it. And I've activated the antibiotics along with some nice painkillers. I should be very happy very soon".

Quarian morphine I assumed.

"Have Chakwas check you when you get back" Shepard.

"Yes ma'am" Tali said with a giggle.

This was when Grunt came over to where we were fussing over Tali.

"My krantt," he said. "You have my thanks".

Then from above us came the whine of a shuttle engine.

"We have company," Garrus said.

The shuttle landed near the hole the Thresher Maw had left and when the door of the craft opened it reveal Uvenk and some of his men.

"You live," Uvenk said as the two groups met "And you brought down the Thresher Maw. No one has done that in generations. Urdnot Wrex was the last".

Grunt bowed his head to Shepard.

"My krant gave me strength beyond my genes" he said with a big grin "Which are damn good".

"This will cause some debate" Uvenk said, more to himself than any of us "I wonder. You say you are pure, no alien meddling in your construction, just the Warlord Okeer".

Well Okeer had used Collector tech to make Grunt so that might count as meddling.

"The best krogan traits are distilled into Grunt. He's designed to be perfect" Shepard said.

"Being designed is the problem" Uvenk stated "But he was not made by aliens and he is truly powerful. That is a tolerable loophole"

Grunt growled.

"A what?" he asked.

"A reason to accept you" Uvenk explained "You are a mistake, but your potential could tip the current balance of power between the clans".

I felt a little dizzy so I missed out whatever it was Grunt said as a reply.

"With restrictions" Uvenk was now saying "You cannot breed, or serve on an alien ship. But you'd be clan in name".

"You talk like he's a thing," Shepard chided "You're after his power. You don't really want him in your clan".

"Of course not. I didn't really want to cooperate with Clan Urdnot either, but I had to. Clan Gatatog is on the verge, either of greatness, or of joining the dust. I get traditionalist support if I fight you, and reformer support if I back you" the krogon told Shepard "Your Rite of Passage tipped the balance towards the reformers".

Garrus had moved up to Grunt's side. He must now that a fight was coming.

"It's your choice Grunt," Shepard said.

"Sounds like an easy job" Garrus commented.

"That's the problem" Grunt said as he got all up in the other krogan's face "I am pure krogan Uvenk. You are the pretender".

Uvenk snarled

"Your head is valuable whether you're alive or dead" he staed.

Grunt snorted.

"Just try to take it" the tank bred challanged.

Uvenk went for his shotgun, but before he could finish the move Shepard had opened with weapon. Garrus had his own rifle up and was already gunning down one of the Clan Gatatog members. I didn't even need to open fire, as Thane had gotten behind the krogon while they'd been talking.

"Uvenk is meat" Grunt said when it was over "Let's signal at the keystone to get out of here, and leave him to rot"

(Line Break)

 **Udront Camp. Krogan Homeworld.**

It had been a silent ride back to the camp. Wrex had arrived with the tomka this time, and after taking one look at the bodies he had merely motioned for us to get inside the big tank

Once inside I'd applied some medi-gel to my injuries and then I'd checked on Tali's vitals. She been running a high fever and she was still out of it due to the painkillers, but there had been no truly worrying signs. Still it would be best to get her to the ship as quickly as possible so that Chackwas could check her out.

Currently we had all gathered back at Wrex's throne, and were standing off to one side as Grunt and the Shaman spoke directly to each other, Wrex looking on.

"You have passed the Rite" the Shaman was saying. "Earning the honour of clan and name. Many survive, but it has been years since a Thresher Maw fell".

Oh so we had killed it then. I hadn't been sure what with the running around and shooting. It was all a big jumble.

"Your name shall live on in glory. Grunt you are Urdnot, you may now own property, join the army, and apply to serve under a battlemaster."

"Shepard is my battlemaster, she has no equal" Grunt stated.

"Understood," replied the shaman "Congratulations Urdnot Grunt, accept this token from Fortack, his weapons are the finest we have."

Grunt took the shotgun and grinned.

"I like this" he said.

And that was that apprantly. Someone else could babysit Shepard while on Mordin's loyalty mission. I was going to take it easy while Tali recovered.


	17. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - No Title

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - No Title**

 **Quarters. The Citadel.**

Ashley stood under the shower, water streaming over her well toned naked body as she applied the soap all over.

"What was I thinking?" she muttered to herself "What the Hell was I thinking?"

Of course, she already knew what she'd been thinking. She'd been thinking about Gothic and Shepard, and their about lack of trust in the Council, in the Alliance, in her. Yet they'd been right, at least somewhat, not only hadn't the Alliance done nothing to stop the abductions, even now higher ups within the Alliance were putting their own spin on the Horizon attack, trying to downplay Shepard's Cerberus connections and the actions of her crew in favour of the more favourable idea that Shepard was acting only as an authorised Council Spectre.

Officially, the story was that Shepard was working for the Council, and as for Ash she'd not been mentioned at all. Which was actually fine as she didn't want to give the media an excuse to come after her.

Of course none of this should have prevented her from seeking out her old friends when the Normandy had recently visited the Citadel.

Anderson, who seemed to have faith in Shepard and Gothic both, had recently met with Ash's ex. Apparently he'd invented some new kind of weapon, or reinvented a Prothean one, a weapon that had weapons manufactures across the galaxy bidding to be allowed to produce it.

Ash as she washed her hair supposed that this was a good sign as it meant her old friends, such Shepard, Gothic, Tali and Garrus weren't totally under Cerberus's control. However she was sure that the Illusive Man was deceiving them, but how to prove Shepard was being manipulated? There had to be a way.

As she got out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around herself, she wondered if Shepard was aware of the manipulations or not. It was possible, but clearly Cerberus had created some means of controlling Shepard while they'd been rebuilding her.

She heard a call on the com link and realised that someone was calling her. She'd been giving a small apartment here on the Citadel to stay while awaiting orders. Perhaps these were the orders.

After throwing on a robe over her still wet body, she plunked herself down in front of the screen and altered the settings to make sure anyone on the other end would only see her head.

"Lt Ashley Williams?" a Salarian asked her, right off the bat. "Jondum Bau, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. It's a pleasure to finally speak to you".

Ash knew what this was about.

"I guess your calling about my Spectre training" she said.

The alien on the screen nodded.

"Many in the Alliance has been pushing hard to make you Shepard's replacement. Normally I wouldn't question the Council choices, but if the Butcher of Torfan can go rogue, can we really trust that the daughter of Earth's most infamous military laughingstock won't be equally unreliable?"

Clearly he was trying to get under her skin, perhaps as some kind of test, and it had worked, but only a little.

"First off, I'm not the Laughingstock's daughter, I'm his granddaughter" Ashley said with a sneer "Second, I may not be a huge fan of the Council races but even I can admit that what happened to my grandfather had more to do with the Systems Alliance than anything else. Three, are you kidding me? Do you really think that calling my grandfather names will make me fly into a rage and throw a temper tantrum?"

Bau just shrugged.

"You'd be surprised at how many Spectre candidates have short tempers that make them unsuitable for the job" the alien said "Most candidates have seen a lot of combat which leaves them somewhat unstable, or have been mentally effected by their time in law enforcement. We find it effective to drop those people out of training very quickly, but in fact most trainee Spectres quit because they are drive away by their trainers. The late and unlamented Saren Arterius was an expert at this".

"Why am I not surprised that Saren was good at pissing people off" Ash muttered to herself.

"Now I'd like to talk to you about a serious matter." Bau said changing the subject quite quickly "What do you really know about Joan Shepard and her new allies?".

"You mean Cerberus?" Ashley asked. "As far as I can remember, they were up to some pretty twisted stuff. Experiments on human beings, Rachni. Hell, they even managed to experiment with Husks, and as far as we know, only Reapers can make those things".

Well the geth could, but that was only when using Reaper tech.

"STG files are fairly through, Lt Williams." Bau said with a nod. "What they don't tell us is why your old Commander would be working for Cerberus in order to oppose the Collectors. What's her endgame in all this?".

"Shepard's endgame is stopping the Collectors." Ashley told the alien. "If I know her as well as I think I do, she's going for the colonists that have been snatched up over the last two years".

Ash couldn't tell how the alien reached to this, he was very good at keeping his expression neutral, but given that he was an alien the Alliance officer couldn't be sure she be able to read his mood anyway.

"Do you think that the Illusive Man is using these colony attacks to manipulate her? Playing on her memories of Mindoir and the Batarian raid in order to elicit her assistance?" Bau asked.

Ashley nodded.

"I'm almost certain of it" she said.

The alien had more questions.

"How dangerous is Shepard?" he asked "I want your honest tactical appraisal."

"Very" Ash answered "She's the most dangerous human being alive. Lucky for us she's a good person even if she does keep questionable company these days".

"I'll be frank with you, Chief Williams" Bau was now saying "There are some Spectres who are concerned about Shepard. Her allies have become a concern as well. An infamous bounty hunter-slash-mercenary, a vicious biotic anarchist, a deadly assassin, a vigilante from Omega, a thief, and then there's your former lover, who is just as dangerous".

Ash almost laughed.

"Gothic isn't dangerous" she stated.

She then took a moment to reconsider that. Gothic was after all a trained Alliance solider with both tech and biotic abilities.

"Well he's not as bad as the rest" she then said "And I think he really does just want to stop the Collectors, and he's loyal to the Commander who's really concerned about the Collectors. She practically begged to take me back to Citadel so we could both present evidence of the attacks to the Council. I refused".

 _"Which might have a mistake"_ Ash admitted to herself.

"Unfortunate" the alien told her "Your accepted presence aboard the Normandy might have made it easier to investigate her; to find out what, if anything, Shepard's real agenda is. Assuming that she even has a hidden agenda, this might indeed be all about the Collectors",

Before Ashley could comment on that the alien spoke again.

"Then there's the matter of Doctor Mordin Solus" he said.

Ash didn't see what the big deal was.

"I think I saw him, what's his story?" she asked

"Mordin Solus is one of the brightest minds in the STG; a legend, really" Bau replied. "He was the one who dealt with the Krogan adaptation to the genophage".

Ashley paused at Bau's frank revelation.

"The genophage? As in the sterility plague?" she asked "Didn't that happened centuries ago?".

"A common mistake," the Spectre said as he shook his head. "The genophage isn't a sterility plague, but rather compensates for the Krogan's removal from a harsh environment by adjusting their birthrate to pre-contact levels The Krogan home world Tuchanka has a harsh environment, its flora and fauna evolve for survival of the fittest at any cost. Between the planet's vicious environment, and the Krogan's natural penchant for violence, only one in every thousand Krogan ever matured to full adulthood. The genophage simply makes that mortality average a tad more literal".

"So, instead of a thousand Krogan dying from any one of a thousand things that can happen to a person in their lifetime, they just die in stillbirth" Ashley said "That's so much better".

"If the genophage is doing its job, then most don't even make it to stillbirth, never mind past conception." Bau clarified. "That is until recently. The Krogan had begun adapting to the genophage, but we only noticed this trend after a visible upswing in viable births was recorded in our biannual surveillance census of Tuchanka. All of our statistical projections indicated that their numbers could grow large enough to let them become a threat to the galaxy once again".

Ash had already figured out what had happened next.

"I'm going to venture the guess you all decided to fix the problem?" Ashley commented dryly.

Bau smiled slightly.

"Doctor Solus headed up an STG task force that created a new and more efficient version of the genophage, taking only months. Then he led the entire task force into making a covert insertion to Tuchanka in order to introduce the new genophage to the Krogan genome" he Salarian explained.

"Are you people insane?" Ashley almost shouted "Doing it once was bad enough, and now you're saying that you sterilised them again. Wasn't it bad enough the first time?".

Bau just shook his head.

"You're human, Miss Williams" the alien said "Your people appeared on the galactic stage less than thirty years ago. Now try to understand that the Rachni wars, and the Krogan rebellions that followed, were unlike any conflict the galaxy had ever know. It's been over a thousand years, but our people are still traumatised by those events.

Ashley couldn't find any way to argue with that.

"I've been to Tuchanka, Operations Chief." Bau told her "I've seen what they did to their own planet. Had we allowed it, they would've done that to every last one of their own colony worlds before moving on to others. Perhaps even Earth. Our choices at the time were simple; genophage or genocide".

The alien had more to say.

"You see the Krogan as a broken species and blame the genophage. Understandable, all things considered" Bau acknowledged "But what you don't understand is that the Krogan are violent thugs of their own volition. That decision is actually what made the genophage necessary for galactic peace".

They were getting off track.

"What matters now is that Commander Shepard is with Mordin Solus on the Krogon Homeworld" the alien told Ash "Which is worrying".

"I don't think Shepard is there to try to cure the genophage" Ash assured the Spectre "I bet she's looking up Wrex, and maybe trying to get some krogan for her run against the Collectors, but she won't be building an army of Krogan if that is what has you worried. She isn't like Saren".

The alien just nodded.

"One more thing. I've looked into Liara T'Soni and rumour has it that her war with the Shadow Broker might have reached its peak" the Spectre told Ash "She's disappeared recently, know anything about that".

Ash had nothing to say on that matter.

"Well we won't be going after Shepard" the salarian told the Alliance officer "But I wanted to gather some information for my fellow Spectres in case one of us is sent after her. Our mission to track down Tela Vasir, a Spectre who was last seen on Illium. She's working for the Broker, we're bringing her in dead or alive".

At least she wasn't going to be sent after Shepard, that was something at least.

(Line Break)

 **XO's Office. The Normandy.**

"Take a break," Miranda purred into my ear. "You have been at this all afternoon. The rest can wait".

In theory it could. I might have years before this Jump ended, but I wanted to be prepared and that meant sorting out all the classified Cerberus data that Miranda had gotten me on disks which could be stored within the warehouse.

"Biotic research. Data on cenetic enhancements" I said "This could all be useful on future jumps".

Clearly Miranda wasn't used to being told no, and she not used to being turned down. I could tell this because she was now pouting, and she was sexy even while sulking slightly.

"I bet I can distract you," she said "And I could sort out the data for you, and I could do it faster".

She was right, but I didn't think work was what she was interested in, and given that Shepard might take us to go recover that Reaper IFF very soon I didn't think I'd get any chance to visit my cosmic warehouse once we'd left the Krogan home world. Not unless we went back to Illuim for more supplies.

Right now Shepard was down there doing Mordin's loyalty mission. He'd left me behind while Tali recovered in the med bay for a small wound, which meant I wanted to focus on my work so that I wouldn't worry too much about her.

"Miranda, it has to be done. We have lots of Jumps to prepare for and we do need to be prepared, this information might be vital in the future if we need to say advance a world's tech level rapidly".

She sighed.

"Guess I'll need the big guns for this" Miranda was now saying.

She was swaying her hips a little more than usual as she walked over to her bed, and she began to unbutton her top.. It wasn't long until she'd peeled the tight fabric off, leaving the upper half of her outfit hanging around her hips.

Then as I watched she grabbed hold of her bra straps and she unclasped the bra and let it fall on the ground.

Now naked from the waist up, Miranda put on her most winning smile and ran her hands up from her flat, trim stomach, up over her ribs, and cupped her breasts, squeezing them together. Her thumbs circled her nipples, which were pink and hard.

Once she had my undivided attention Miranda reached for something she kept under her bed. It was a small bottle. She popped the cork and immediately I smelt something pleasant fill the air, but I couldn't put a name to to smell.

What Miranda did next was upended the bottle, letting some of the thick, clear fluid within the bottle drip onto her chest, and then she set the bottle down, before she began to spread the scented fluid. Soon the sound of Miranda's hands massaging her slippery breasts, were all I could hear.

"What is that stuff?" I asked.

The smell was very pleasant.

"Just a little something that I found on the Citadel" she told me. "'It makes the skin more sensitive, and it creates a warming sensation when you rub it in".

Slimy and slippery, the clear goop slowly ran down her fingers as she massaged it all over her generous bust. Her hands were moving much faster now. Spreading the goop on her breasts, she chewed her lower lip, her legs were moving as her thighs rubbed together, and she couldn't hold back a soft moan.

Then Miranda began to strip away the rest of her jumpsuit, she gave me a wink. As I watched my already rock hard dick started to get painfully erect.

Soon Miranda Lawson, director of Project Lazarus, and top tier agent of Cerberus stood before me naked, and the first thing that I thought was: Finally!

She apparently shaved everywhere, because her pussy was smooth and I desperately wanted to get a closer look at it, but Miranda just stood there, smirking, knowing the effect her body was having on me

After some amount of time, I hadn't been able to keep track, she stalked forward towards me, her hips swaying, until she was once against on her knees before me. At this point I felt a bit bad for doing this sort of thing while Tali was recovering from a fever, but I'd have to get used to sharing at some point, and at least Miranda knew better than to rush into bed with me.

"You need to relax too. Let me help with that" Miss Lawson offered.

Next she was undoing my belt buckle and before long she had my cock exposed. Soon I felt her breasts squeeze my member, and she made my dick disappear between her massive boobs. The gel she'd covered her breasts in made my cock feel very sensitive and warm.

She moved her breasts in such a way that the tip of my cock sometimes made an appearance, and when it did she'd do her best to lick or kiss it.

"Oh, fuck!" I yelled, far too soon for my liking "I'm...I'm gonna cum!"

"Ooh, yes!" Miranda cried out "Cum where ever you want, cover my face in cum! Get it all over my big tits!".

The dirty talk combined with the titjob was too much for me to handle.

"NGYAH!"

With a sound somewhere between a moan and a roar, I climaxed as requested. She closed her eyes, but kept her titjob going to milk as much out of me as possible.

"Well it works" Miranda said as she stood up and started scooping my cum with her fingers so she could taste it "I had my doubts about some gel making your cock more sensitive, but it does work as promised, and my breasts feel great. I'll have to pick up some more".

I was too dazed to reply.

"Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to take a sinfully long shower. I'll record it for you" she said.

I just grunted.

(Line Break)

 **Research Station. Sinmara.**

 _"Magnetic shielding failure detected. Catastrophic solar radiation exposure probable"_ repeated the message.

I watched as the shuttle lifted away leaving me and Tali alone on the platform. Which was on the moon of a planet called Surtur in the Solveig system.

What was interesting about this system was Solving's sun. It was erupting prematurely into a red giant, and this wasn't the first time this had happened in a system I'd visited. I had to wonder if someone or something was destabilising a few stars.

It could be a super weapon, but it didn't seem very effective given that these suns were still taking centuries to change state, and the targets seemed totally random. More likely it was a result of something else, but what that could be I didn't have a clue.

Were it not for the shields, the colony on this world would be rendered uninhabitable. Not that anyone should be living here, according to the Normandy's database this moon didn't even have an atmosphere, which it clearly did, although we couldn't breathe it.

Maybe the Alliance had altered the records for some reason, or it could be a honest mistake there were thousands of worlds out there and new ones were being explored all the time, no database was going to get everything right about every world.

The only reason anyone was here at all was because of this research station and the profitable mining, which was done by robots who were supervised by humans. Still there were exactly 135 people here and they would all die if we didn't do something.

"So tell me again how I got talked into doing this?" Tali asked with a sigh.

As part of my Spectre training Shepard had put me in charge of this mission. Which was to repair to the damaged shielding and save the research station as well as the mining operations.

Of course I'd brought Tali along with me because of her tech skills, and I'd brought Garrus to, but since there was nothing to shoot around here he'd requested to stay on the shuttle. Which would come pick us up when we were done here.

"I need help repairing the radiation shields and you are he most skilled engineer I know" I told here "Even if you do keep using sub standard parts".

This began a rant by Tali as she complained yet again about the terrible job I'd done as Normandy's chief engineer, at least by her standards, no one else had commented.

"If Normandy were a Quarian vessel..."

I stopped her there as these rants could go on for a while.

"Tali I wasn't trying to keep a three hundred year old ship running on scrap metal and a prayer" I told her "And it was Cerberus's money I was spending by simply replacing things that broke. Which means they now have less money to spend on terrorist things".

The quarian sighed.

"Gothic you're a talented mechanic, more than most people realise. I just wonder how you'll do when resources aren't as plentiful" she said, sounding very concerned "My people understand what it is like to have to recycle and reuse every resource, and when these Reapers turn up you'll have to learn fast how to reuse and recycle everything".

She had a point. When the war started, it wasn't a matter of if, I wouldn't be able to simply replace broken and worn down parts. I'd have to learn to do more with what little I had.

"That suit come with a rad checker?" I asked my girlfriend.

I felt like I was playing one of the Fallout games right now, as I was using my omni-tool like a Pipboy in order to keep track of my exposure to radiation.

"Downloaded an update for the software just this morning" Tali answered "I heard that some of the new suits they have on Illium are rated against radiation extremes even worse than what we're dealing with out here".

Illium did have a small quarian population, who all worked in high technology firms, and they needed suits, as such there was a company on Illium that made suits for quarians. They were expensive but worth it for the protection and upgrades they offered, and they were just one of the things the Migrant fleet wanted to buy from the planet, but had trouble doing so. Plus some suit models were much easier to wear armour over than other models.

"Well, why didn't you buy a new suit when we were on Illium?" I asked.

"Gothic, a new suit is a big deal. It is expensive for one thing and I would need to spend time in a clean room while I changed suits, then I'd need to spend more time in the clean room while I got used to the new suit and made sure it was working right" she said "Its bothersome and I don't want to be a burden on the crew by spending all that time not doing any work".

I didn't agree.

"Well Shepard wants to take us back to Illium so we can some better armour so we'll pick up a new suit for you while we're there" I decided.

This time it was armour upgrades for us rather than the ship. Like myself Shepard was more than happy to spend Cerberus's money. Besides we would need the best of everything when we hit the Collector base. Those modified Protheans had numbers and more advanced tech that we did, and while we had the advantage of not being almost mindless husk we'd still need the best equipment we could get.

"This mission is too important for me to be wasting credits and resources we could be using to upgrade the ship on frivolous things like a new envirosuit" Tali argued

I smiled.

"Its not optional" I told her "You're not stepping foot on the Collector base without the best suit we can get you. I'll pay for it".

She then suddenly stopped walking.

"Hold on a moment, do you want to stick me in a suit that better shows off my butt?" she asked.

I didn't reply, but I didn't need to.

"You check my butt out all the time" Tali said "So it wasn't hard to guess. Does anyone else check me out?".

This I had to answer carefully.

"I can neither confirm or deny that there is talk of your butt" I said

Tali purposely walked ahead of me, and then bent over as if to inspect something. I was distracted from the sight when my omni-tool, which was under the control of Cortana, warned me that the levels of radiation were increasing.

"Rad Levels at 25 percent of lethal and raising" I muttered.

At 100 percent our armour would not longer shield us and we'd be in mortal danger. Hopefully the station's shielding would be brought online long before that lethal dose level was reached.

"We'd better get our posteriors in gear" Tali said.

Indeed the time for talk was over.

(Line Break)

The work didn't take very long and soon the shielding was back up. I'd even had time to take details scans of the shields just in case I ever found myself on a Jump where radiation was a problem. Again Fallout came to mind.

"So you and Tali saved the day" Shepard said over the radio as the shuttle came around to pick us up "I just passed along the message to Alliance command. There's a nice cash reward for saving the station".

Oh goody I could use the money to buy Tali a new suit, one that hugged her ass.

"Yes my first Spectre trainiee mission was a complete success" I replied "Its nice to save people for a change. Normally we just go around shooting them".

I'd long since lost count of the amount of people I'd killed since joining Shepard so it was a nice change of pace to save folks. It made me feel good about myself.

"Well if you're interested in saving people" the commander replied "You'll want to hurry back to the ship ASAP, we just got a distress call from a ship that crashed ten years ago, and you're on the mission to find out what happened".

Sounded as if this could be Jacob's loyalty mission.

(Line Break)

 **Camp. Aeia.**

We''d come to this backwater world looking to find the wreck of the Hugo Gernsback, a ship Jacob's father had been serving on at the time of his disappearance and presumed death.

According to the logs of the ship Jacob's father, Ronald Taylor, had assumed command following the crash and death of the ship's real captain.

The surviving crew quickly discovered that consumption of local flora and fauna had the eventual side effect of neuropathic degradation; first taking the short-term memory, then the long term memory, and finally regressing the victim to someone with the cognitive capacity of a child.

Acting Captain Ronald Taylor and the other officers had forced the rest of the crew to eat the toxic food, restricting the ship's remaining resources for themselves, so that their minds would remain intact. A grim choice jusitfied, made necessary by the needs of command and the necessities of rationing the untainted food.

To an extent, I could understood why the untainted food had been saved for the officers, because it had eventually led to them repairing the malfunctioning rescue beacon. But rather than signal for help, Taylor and several of the other officers had used the situation to take control, killing all those who wouldn't go along with the plan and pretty much enslaving the rest.

Taylor had taken advantage of the situation, building himself a harem out of the more attractive members of the Gernsback crew. These women were rather child-like, some even worshiping Taylor as some kind of divinely-ordained king judging by their tribal behaviour.

The male crew of the Gernsback had been cast out from the tribe, they had become wild, violent, territorial and barely coherent. We'd been forced to put most of the down like they were rabid dogs.

"Rank and protocol meant nothing to them anymore" Captain Taylor was currently saying "I had to establish dominance, even after the hunters were cast out and most of the rest calmed down".

He was just making excuses now.

"I never forced them to do anything" the acting captain protested "I mean, I'm not a...".

"A rapist" Miranda said "That's the word you're struggling with right? That's the very least of the charges you'd be facing back home, Acting Captain".

Shepard wasn't here, she'd put me in charge of another mission as part of my training, but really Jacob was in charge here. The rest of us were just here as his backup.

"I wasn't the only guy involved" Ronald pleaded

"Primitive cultures reward alpha males with almost exclusive breeding rights, and it's clear you made every effort to remain top dog" Miranda stated.

Taylor's shamed silence spoke louder than half hearted lies ever could.

"Look, I know this looks bad," the acting Captain said with a sigh. "But this place, its has a wealth of resources like nothing I've ever seen before. We're going to be rich. Get me home, keep this all between ourselves and I'll share it with you"

I didn't think his claim to this planet, assuming he even had one, would be honoured by the alliance considering what he'd done. Not that it matter as the Alliance wasn't going to invest in settling this world when they had the Reapers to worry about.

"You are fortunate that I have sworn to follow Shepard's commands" Samara said, sounding much calmer than the rest of us" If not I would have already killed you".

I had worried about bringing the Justicar along, but she'd wanted to come and its hard to say no to a centuries old asari.

"I'm sorry, really, I am!" the older Taylor was now saying "it just didn't seem like a good idea to call for help after the beacon was fixed and, things just got complicated from there"

"You were supposed to be their leader!" Jacob shouted. "They trusted you to get them home. What the Hell was so complicated about that?".

"You ever have to put down a mutiny with crappy security mechs and an officer corps all filled with men who think that they know better than you about every goddamn thing?" Ronald asked back.

Jacob just shook his head.

"Putting that mutiny down got bad. I ended up having to make examples, and that wasn't even counting what Anders did." Captain Taylor went on to say "He started with the idea of 'managing' the rest of the crew and then he finds his conscience about a month in. None of us knew who killed him, and things got tense from there. Another uprising popped up and it got bloody very fast, I managed to take control of the security mechs and I made a point of teaching them all a little respect for the chain of command".

That didn't sound good.

"But I was kind to my people once things were settled." he finished by saying.

I then turned to Jacob

"Listen if you want to hand him over to Alliance authorities that's fine, they'll send a ship for the survoirs" I said to Jacob "Or we can leave him here for those hunters. Its up to you".

We just left him there. I had no problem with that. Mosly I was re-thinking Jump Chan's harem idea. If nothing else I knew not what do when building my own.


	18. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Vasir

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Vasir**

 **Part 18**

 **Docking Port. Illuim.**

"I'll be fine" I assured Tali "Go to the hospital".

Currently Tali and I, with Miranda close by, were standing outside the Normandy. The young quarian was going to be a way for a few days while she changed suits, a suit more suited for hazards and fire fights, this changing was a big deal because of her immune system being so crappy. Quarians could change suits in any sterile space, but the hospital would be best because then Tali would have a doctor nearby if things went wrong. Also the room she would be spending a few days in came with things like an entertainment system so she wouldn't get board.

"I'll come in visit in a couple of days once you're in your new suit" I promised "And I want photos too. I don't get to see you naked as much as I would like, and I still don't know what your tattoo looks like".

Tali sighed, either because my request annoyed her, or because she was leaving the ship behind. She was looking at the Normandy right now, so it was safe to assume it was the later.

"Well at least the ship is going anywhere" she said as we started to walk towards the nearby air taxis "I dread to think what would happen if the Normandy went into battle with you down in engineering".

This offended me.

"Hey, I totally kicked ass as head engineer," I protested.

I'd even gotten to play cards with the two nice Cerberus people. Gabby and Ken knew how to have a laugh.

"You did fine as chief engineer" Miranda stated "Aside from your total inability to file even the simplest bit of paperwork".

I'd left the Alliance because I'd been worried about denying the existence of Reapers and sending me off somewhere, and because of Cerberus's interest in me. While I'd missed a few things about military life as an Alliance officer, the paperwork wasn't one of them.

"Hold on, I sent you a progress report every day," I shot back,

Again I was offended. I'd recreated ancient Prothean tech. I'd commanded a warship into battle. I was a trainee Spectre, yet I got no respect. Miranda and Tali seemed intent on slapping down my ego. Perhaps they just didn't want me getting too cocky for my own good.

"A one-sentence memo saying that the engines haven't blown up yet is not a progress report" Miranda protest "And what is a warp core breach anyway?".

If the reports had been verbal I'd have done them in Scottish accent.

"The purpose of a progress report is to let you know the status of the engines" I told Miranda "and my reports let you known what you needed to know without all technical jargon that you might not understand anyway".

To be fair I didn't even understand it all.

"I have more experience with technical jargon then you do," the genetically-engineered woman argued "And I have a lot more experience running a star ship than you do".

That made me laugh.

"I commanded the Normandy at the Battle of the Citadel" I reminded her "You do Shepard's paperwork, it doesn't compare".

That didn't shut her up.

"My schooling and experience far outshines anything you could've possibly ever had," Miranda argued.

"Okay I'm leaving now!" Tali said loudly "See you in a few days!".

A moment later the air taxi speed off, and I had no idea what to do next.

"What does she have a tattoo of?" Miss Lawson wondered "You mentioned it a few moments ago".

I told her.

"Maybe I should get a tattoo" Miranda mused.

Perhaps she would, but we could talk about that later.

"Let's go to my warehouse" I decided "We need to store all that Cerberus data you got me".

Plus she'd want to check on her sister I was sure.

(Line Break)

 **Cosmic Warehouse. Outside of Reality.**

"So Terminator for the next Jump" I decided.

Right now I was looking at the terminal that was with my cosmic warehouse as I planned out Jumps. I'd changed my mind loads of times about what universe to go to, but one choice never changed.

"Okay after this Jump its Terminator" I said "For the cool perks, and we end that Jump quickly using Cortana to kill Skynet".

Defeating Skynet would end the Jump early so we wouldn't be in that universe for very long.

"Stargate Atlantis for Jump 3 maybe?" I muttered to myself "Or Voyager? Wouldn't mind grabbing Seven of Nine for the harem, but then I'd have to put up with Janeway for seven years".

Actually getting Seven of Nine into my harem wouldn't be hard at all. Her basic motivation was to work towards her own perfection, which I could offer by taking her to other universes so she could obtain powers and abilities. I'd just have to recruit her before too attached to the ship. Plus with the perks for the Terminator Jump I should have problems getting people on my side.

"Maybe I could kill Janeway and take command somehow?" I mused.

I didn't think that would work as her crew was mostly loyal to her, despite the fact that she wasn't a great leader, and despite the fact that a good percentage of them were Maquis who didn't even like the Federation.

While hanging with the Starfleet types for years didn't seem like much fun, I really did want Seven of Nine as part of my team, she was super smart, hot and a cyborg, which was cool. She might be worth putting up with Janeway.

This was when I felt as if I was being watched. I turned to see that Jump Chan was back, she'd changed her looks again, she was now dressed up some sort of tight catsuit for some reason, but I knew it was her. In an odd way I'd been able to sense her coming.

Thankfully Miranda wasn't here to get freaked out, as she'd gone to pick up some spare parts so that once we got back to the ship I could build some particle pistols, smaller versions of particle rifles, since those weapon fired hard radiation rather bullets they had no recoil so a particle pistol would make a great side arm for people like Joker.

"Any questions about your future Jumps?" she wondered.

A few.

"What happens if I get assimilated by the Borg?" I wondered.

It wouldn't kill me, but on the other hand as a drone I wouldn't be able to make the choices at the end of the Jump.

"You'd remain a drone into the end of the Jump" she told me "And then you'd appear here in the warehouse cut from the Collective".

Made sense. Still the risk of being assimilated was high. Dying wasn't a concern since I'd get a game over and I'd go home, but if I didn't face the Borg then no Seven of Nine. Assuming of course something caused her to die as a drone or something else horrible. We could even end up getting back to Earth early.

Also I'd have to deal with seven years, maybe ten, being on Voyager. A decade under Janeways command. With Neelix doing the cooking, and having to deal with Starfleet's stupidity.

"Have you considered going to the T:SCC time line?" Jump Chan then asked.

I pondered on that.

"You mean Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles?" I asked.

Jump Chan nodded.

"That alternate time line has a few Terminators running around in the past" she told me "And you have advanced weapons capable of taking out synthetics. You hunt them down, disable them and take them apart for study. Or even have your AI reprogramme them".

An interesting idea.

"Could be dangerous" I pointed out "That reprogramming can be undone".

"That's when it done by humans" Jump Chan replied "Cortana is much more advanced. Plus she can reproduce, she could wipe the original programming away and insert a copy of herself into the Terminator body. Might be a bit odd its a male body, but hey why not have a small army of killer cyborgs at your command".

It was something to consider at least.

"Plus you can take some time to check out Earth" Jump Chan advised "Take a vacation, with your own AI and the right starting resources you could become rich very quickly. You could start your own business even. You can still cut things sort very quickly if you want. Just some food for thought".

With that she was gone, and I was left to reconsider my plans.

(Line Break)

 **Asari City. Illuim.**

The crew of the Normandy come to this world to gather some needed materials for our attack on the Collector headquarters, which would be soon as Shepard was rapidly finishing all the loyalty quests, but upon arriving on this world we hadn't gone shopping.

Instead we'd ended up getting involved in the mission of a salarian Spectre who was mentoring Ash just as Shepard was preparing me for my future role.

I wasn't quite sure if I could commit to being a Spectre, as it was more than a mere job that would end with this Jump, it was a big commitment. I'd have to try to act like a Spectre even when in other universes. Still at least I had Shepard to guide me.

As it turned out Ashley didn't have a good a teacher as me as she'd gotten captured by the , and none of us knew where her boss was. He wasn't dead, we knew this as Jondum Bau had guided to this building.

"What is it?" I asked.

By now the squad, which was made up of myself, Shepard, and Goto, we having all been on the ship and as such available on short notice, when the call had come in, had entered the building, which was guarded by mercs in the employ of an asari rogue Spectre called Vasir.

I doubted the guards had expected us to enter the building from below. Thankfully Liara had detailed maps of the foundations of this city, and she'd shared them with us.

"Maybe we can try NOT charging into a firefight this time?" Shepard whispered "We don't have a full squad here to back us up".

Since when had she worried about not getting shot at? We got shot at all the time? She had to be worried about Ashley.

"Hey, here's an idea," Kasumi said softly from behind us "Seeing as how you brought the super-sneaky thief along, she could… oh, I don't know, scout ahead under the cover of her advanced cloaking tech and find out even if it is even worth attacking the mercs".

That could work. Also I wondered where she'd gotten cloaking tech from as while I had it too, mine was of limited use and had come from the geth. I'd enquired on the matter, but the thief had never given me a proper answer.

"Ooh, I like that idea" Shepard said to me with a smile "She's good. Where'd you find her?".

In this version of events I'd recruited Goto months before ME2 started as I'd figured Garrus could use a sneaky thief type, and she'd been willing to work for cold hard cash.

"Dating site" I replied "Japanese girls can be so cute".

Again it had been Liara who gotten me the info needed to kind Goto. I really didn't know what we'd do without her.

"No its you two who are cute" Kasumi said with a snicker. "You should really get an extranet vid show. You guys could catch criminals every week and wear spandex outfits".

Dear Lord. I'd be the sidekick. I was Robin to Shepard's Batman.

"You read too many comic books" I told Goto as she vanished.

She really did.

"Ash is going to be okay" Shepard assured me.

I actually wasn't too worried. Ashley was only useful to the rogue Spectre as long as she was alive. Still the Commander spent some time worrying about her.

"She better be" I replied "because I want to see the look on her face when were the ones who save her".

It would be sweet.

"I can imagine having your ex-boyfriend, who you dumped for a promotion, turn up and save you would be embarrassing" mused Shepard "She can't even use sex to thank you, so she's going to own you for the rest of her life".

While I wasn't sure how sex could be a thank you. I didn't comment on that as I remembering what Ash looked like naked, but I stopped doing that since I had a girlfriend, and a sort of concubine as well. Wow my love life was a mess.

"Ah, the things a man will do for love" Kasumi's whispered mockingly "Or to get back at someone they used to love".

I didn't like that she made fun of me. Women were kind of evil in every century it seemed. I was pretty sure that even Shepard was getting way too much enjoyment how strange this was for me.

"So, are there any more guards? Can we make our move?" the Commander asked.

Goto smiled.

"We made our move already," the hooded thief told us. "Or, to be more accurate, we will be making our move in five… four… three… two… one…"

A series of explosions went off. It was deafening, but thankfully my ears didn't ring for long.

"And that, ladies and gentleman, is why you hired me," Kasumi said, smirking.

I was thinking that we should make use of Goto's skills more often. She wasn't really a fighter, but she was good at stealth that most of the time she didn't need to shot anyone.

"Move out!" Shepard shouted.

Soon we reached a locked door that Kasumi had already hacked, and we entered it only to find Ash standing over a dead merc. Apparently she'd been in the process of freeing herself.

Before any of us could commit on that a vid screen came to life, which showed the face of the asari that Ashely was suppose to be hunting.

"Shepard" she said "I'm surprised. My information told me that you'd be too busy hunting Collectors to come after me, but perhaps I should have expected this after all it was you down the Shadow Broker".

"I'm tracing this call" Cortana informed me over the comm device in my helmet so that no one else could hear "If you can, keep her talking".

Shepard stepped forward.

"I'm bringing you in" she informed the asari "One way or the other".

"Who do you think you're dealing with?" Vasir replied. "You think I'm some two-cred merc who's gonna crap themselves because of Commander Shepard and her ooh-scary reputation?"

Shepard just shrugged.

"I'm sure Saren thought the same" she said.

Vasir smiled.

"Saren was a fool and a mad man. I'm a trained Spectre, a commando of the first rank" she said. "The Matriarchs might worry about you Shepard, but you don't seem that tough. It's time you feeble humans were reminded what it is to deal with a race that was born to power".

I rolled my eyes.

"Shepard I am tracking the source of this communication" EDI let everyone know "It is coming from a nearby air car".

Vasir must have wanted to see us in action, or perhaps she'd though her mercs would slow us down and then she could enter the battle. Of course there had been no fight and while I was sure the rogue Spectre's communications were secure they weren't AI proof.

"Okay time for the reckless car chase sequence" I muttered.

We all piled into an air car that had belong to the Escplise Mercs and without anyone noticing I linked Cortana to the craft's system so that she could disable any security measures the car might have.

"I am able to track the transport Vasir is using" EDI told us

Shepard smiled.

"Good, Gothic switch places I'll drive" the Commander ordered.

I heard Ash yell 'NOOO!'.

Shepard driving was infamous among those of us who'd served on either version of the Normandy.

"Boss, you drive worse than I do," I said as I guided the air taxi out into traffic "How you got to the Conduit without me is a complete mystery".

Perhaps Ashely had driven. She did suggest doing so now. But it was already too late.

"Hold on" I heard the Alliance officer advise Goto "Gothic is barely any better than Shepard when it comes to driving".

Upon hearing that I decided that we would speeding up.

"How dangerous a driver could he possibly...!" Goto started to ask.

She wasn't allowed to finish that as I started driving like a mad man and Cortana went into my files and found some suitable music for this event: The Matrix Reloaded - Highway Fight Scene Part 1

The Squad's air taxi hurtled though the city as the music blasted through the speakers. Which made the whole thing about a hundred times more fun.

"Gothic stay on her!" Shepard yelled.

Shepard did some typing and the air car's HUD had the Spectre's car highlighted.

"On it, boss," I said.

I really was the sidekick now.

"She's headed into that construction site!" Shepard then warned me.

I swerved across several lanes of traffic in order to follow Vasir's car though a series of obstacles.

"Traffic!" Ashley shouted "There is a lot of traffic here, and buildings too. We could hit those"

Now I was getting annoyed.

"Yes thank you Ash!" I shouted "I noticed".

Several cars started honking horns, and there was a sudden flare of fiery light. Vasir had caused a midair collision. Which led to several air cars spinning out of control and crashing into nearby buildings. This was totally not my fault.

(Line Break)

Hotel Azure. Illium.  
I'd landed the air car in a pool, which was better landing than the asari we were hunting had managed. Not that the water had done much to soften the blow. But still at least it not being a deep pool made it easy to get out of.

"Where the hell are we?" I wondered.

"Azure; it's an exotic resort catering to Asari fetishists," Cortana informed me "Azure is slang for part of the asari body".

Hadn't I heard of this place before?

"Which part?" I asked, almost without thinking.

I wasn't surprised by the answer.

"Its a brothel, but near as I can tell this place is really about maintaining cultural dominance" Cortana told me.

"Maintaining cultural dominance?" I laughed. "Its a whore house".

"Which caters to the rich and famous of many races" my AI told me "Ever hear of pillow talk?".

Another reason not to fuck asari babes.

"Great driving" I heard Ash remark.

I bit back a harsh reply.

"Any landing you can walk away from" I said.

"Where's Vasir?" I heard Shepard demand of one of the whores "Which way did she go?"

"I saw someone come out of the other car" the asari told the commander "She was bleeding, she went that way".

Guess my landing had been better.

"Come on!" the commander shouted.

We followed the Spectre and found the rogue Spectre at the bar, an odd place to run to, but she did have a head injury I noticed, which meant she wasn't thinking clearly.

"Vasir!" Shepard shouted "It's over!"

The Asari Spectre wasn't the only one to speak.

"Wow Shepard is that you?" Conrad Verns asked.

Oh great the fan boy was here. I'd not seen him at the bar and had hoped that meant he was dead or something.

"I'm a Council Spectre on official business," Vasir told everyone in the room "These… these Cerberus terrorists are trying to kill me"

That was when Conrad stepped in front of Vasir, in order to shield her from our fire.

"Drop the weapon, Shepard," the man ordered.

Conrad had no weapon and I doubted his N7 armour was the real deal so he wouldn't survive if we opened fire

"This won't end well for you" Shepard warned.

Conrad didn't back down.

"I can't believe you're working for Cerberus" the fan boy was now saying "They've got school kids who admire you, Shepard; school kids. You turned your back on that".

"Help me get away and you'll be a hero" the rogue Spectre told Conrad.

Now I knew he wouldn't back down. And no doubt Shepard knew that to, which was she dropped him by shooting him in the leg. However the rogue Spectre managed to grab herself another human shield before any of us could get a clear shot. Some poor girl who looked like she was a waitress.

"Let her go, Vasir," Shepard said firmly"You're finished as a Spectre, but I can bring you in alive"

"Really?" the alien replied "You think so?. You're the Cerberus terrorist. When the cops get here, who do you think they'll shoot at?".

That would be a worry if not for the fact that Vasir had taken a hostage. It was pretty clear who was danger to the public here.

"We have evidence of your involvement with the Shadow Broker" Shepard argued "Enough that the Council disowned you. So even if you get away from me they'll just send more people after you".

By that she meant the Council would send more Spectres.

"Do you REALLY think that they don't already know?" Vasir said as she laughed bitterly. "The Council turns a blind eye to anything and everything they have to, or else they'd have to admit to what it takes to keep this galaxy spinning".

They'd certainly needed hard evidence to dismiss Saren from the Spectre ranks. Even having me, an Alliance officer, as an eyewitness hadn't been enough. So it was possible that the Council already knew, and had ignored the situation until we'd told them what they already knew. At that point they could have decided that they had to disown Vasir because the information of her acitivies would become public sooner or later. By acting quickly and sending another Spectre after her they could pretend to be out raged by Vasir's treason.

"Including assassinating the Shadow Broker's enemies?" Shepard asked "And passing classified information to him. Information the Council trusted you with".

"Do you know how many people are alive today BECAUSE I got critical intel from the Shadow Broker?" Vasir asked us "So what if the Broker needs a favour from time to time? I'm sure as hell not going to complain. The ends justify the means".

Vasir was smiling.

"The funny thing about all this is that they nearly sent me after you" the asari told Shepard "Then were worried about you going rogue, and they were right"/

"You don't know anything about me, Vasir" Shepard stated.

"Really? I know why you said yes to Cerberus," Vasir said "People vanishing, whole colonies going dark, the Human Alliance doing nothing, and along comes the Illusive Man, with a new ship and crew. All ready to lay down their lives for the great Commander Shepard. You must have felt right at home".

Now Shepard was mad.

"Innocent lives were in danger and where was the Council? Where were you Vasir? if it had been Asari lives in danger; Asari colonies under attack, you know I would have stormed the gates of Hell itself to stop whoever was behind it" Shepard said.

Vasir smiled again.

"That's what I admire about you Shepard, You of all people should understand why I made a deal with the Broker. What's a few dead people weighed against whole worlds".

I wishing that Garrus was here. He'd have sniped this asari way before she could get into a verbal debate with Shepard. I just wasn't good enough of a marksmen to risk it.

"You hid your deal with the Broker while the Council knows who I'm working for and what I'm capable of, and yet they STILL gave me back my Spectre status" Shepard argued "Vasir, I blew a nuke on a garden world, unleashed the Rachni upon the galaxy again, saved the Citadel, defeated Saren and the Geth, then I actually died, only to come back again. Do you really think you can beat me?".

Now Vasir looked a little scared. She was in it deep.

"This is your last chance, Shepard," she said next "The hostage dies if you don't back down. Drop the weapons or I swear I'll kill her!"

"Okay do it" said Shepard "I'm going to shoot you no matter what happens so kill her if you like".

Vasir tried to make a run for it, by throwing the hostage at us with her botics, lucky for the waitress I too was a biotic so I could stop her from being splatted against the wall.

When I turned around I heard a shot ring out as Shepard dropped Vasir, again using a shot to the legs. Damn she was a good shot.

"That could have ended badly" I remarked.

Shepard turned to face me.

"Spectres make the hard choices" she told me "Remember this when its your turn".

Somehow I didn't think I'd ever forget this day.

(Line Break)

XO's Office. The Normandy.

Not long after getting back to the ship Miranda invited me to her office for a debriefing, which as it as it turned out was just her way to get me alone. Which I was fine with because Shepard was having a shouting match with the Salarian spectre who was suppose to be mentoring Ashley, who was on board the ship. So having somewhere to hide was nice.

As soon as the door had closed she'd started undressing, and she'd encouraged me to have a little play time with her body. I wasn't sure what had brought this on, but I was sure it hadn't something to do with me nearly dying a car crash.

As I pulled Miranda's panties down. Her smooth sex was revealed to me. Like the rest of her it was perfect, and I couldn't help rubbing between her legs as well as placing fingers inside her.

"Put your nice hard cock inside my pussy," Miranda said as she wrapped her arm around me. "You know, I'm still your superior, technically, so that was an order".

Well I was going to be a Sceptre soon so I had to get used to giving orders and not letting people boss me around.

"You want my cock, do you?" I asked.

I squeezed Miranda's ass and she gave a moan of delight. I then squeezed her ass a couple more times. I was sitting in a chair so she could have mounted me, but she hadn't yet.

"You're not going to make me beg, are you?" Miranda asked. "I just want your big cock inside my perfect pussy. Is that too much of a crime? Is that really too much for me to ask?"

I smiled, nodded, so she straddled my lap in such a way that I was inside Miranda's wet pussy. She almost sucked his cock inside of her.

"There's the spot, right here!" she shouted out.

I was buried balls deep inside Miranda's pussy. The warmth of it was so pleasant, and she already gently moving, enough to get me moaning in pleased.

"Do you want me to go faster?" she asked.

I was at the right head level to kiss and bit her neck. Which she liked, and Miranda did her best to please herself. She kept increasing the pace of her movements, and working her hips she slammed down as best she could onto me. Not hard enough to hurt me, but she wasn't being gentle. She riding me rough to get herself off. Which I didn't think would take long, she was very good at working her own body.

When I saw her face, it looked as if Miranda was having the time of her life.

"I'm cumming!" Miranda yelled.

Since I was still hard she kept going, barely pausing after her own climax, she'd recovered fast, and seemed surprised that I still wanted more.

"Shoot your cum inside it, that's what you want".

She was now whispering in my ear and she was doing her best to please me.

"Go ahead, cum for me," Miranda said "I want your cum dripping down my thighs "

It was the way she spoke more than anything else that got my seed spilling inside her.

(Line Break)

XO's Office.

I must have needed a nap, but I didn't remember lying down the bed. Not that I thought about it much as someone was playing with my once again hard cock. Plus I had my face buried in huge boobs so I didn't want to do any thinking.

"Gothic, there's one more hole you haven't gotten to enjoy," Miranda said. "Interested?"

Before I'd even finished Miss Lawson was getting my cock and wet with her mouth. Then she moved to lie on her side so that I could fuck her. My lubricated cock soon penetrated Miranda's tightest and most private hole. Her ass hole clenched as I entered her.

"I've saved the best for last" Miranda said as moved her ass "I know how much you've been looking forward to fucking my ass. I know you've been staring. Just think as soon as this mission is over and I quit Cerberus you'll own this ass".

Miranda couldn't fully commit to me and Jump Chain while still working for Cerberus. And I knew she hadn't been intending to have sex with me until then, but clearly she hadn't been able to hold out.

Rather than say anything I reached around her body so that I could use my left hand to play with her tits, and before long my hand was travelling downwards.

"Will I own this too?" I asked as I fingered her cunt.

The work of my fingers caused Miranda to start moving her hips even as I gently fucked her ass.

"Yes" was all she managed to say.

"Do you like my hard cock in your ass? I asked.

I picked up the pace a little.

"Yes!" Miranda yelled "HARDER!"

I sped up my pace.

"Cum in my fucking ass" she was now saying "Make me your slut! I'm your bitch! Pound my back door!".

She might make fun of me something, but Miranda really did like me it turned out. So much so then when I did cum in her ass she thanked me for it. Damn she was hot.


	19. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Reaper

**Jump Chain Gothic 1 - Mass Effect 2 - Reaper**

 **Briefing Room. The Normandy.**

Seeing the entire team all in one place really made it clear just how odd this group really was. The original Normandy crew had been diverse for an alliance ship what with the inclusion of the four aliens on board, but this team of the galaxy's best put it to shame.

An asari justicar stood across the table from a professional assassin of the drell race, who in turn was standing next to a salarain genius. Then there was a turian, who a few decades ago might have been preparing himself for an invasion of human worlds.

Throw in a genetically engineered krogan super-soldier and the half a dozen other professional mercenaries, operatives, and techs that made up this team and the sheer combined combat experience was nothing short of astounding, as was the diversity.

"Okay, you got my ass dragged up here, what's the deal?" Jack asked.

Shepard was amused.

"The deal?" she said with a smirk "Is this".

She touched the controls to the display that was built into the briefing room table and an image of a derelict Reaper soon filled the air. The 3D picture was both clear and large enough that no one could mistake it for anything else.

Some of us had already known about this for a while, but for valid reasons the Commander had kept us from boarding the Reaper. We hadn't been ready, we might not be now, and if we'd rushed there sure we might have saved a Cerberus science team, but if we'd failed then entire colonies would be left at the mercy of the Collectors.

People of course reacted, and I see the surprise even on Thane's face, he'd blinked a number of times, they just held back from verbally expressing how they felt. Tali didn't bother to contain her feelings.

"Keelah! Another Reaper?" she said.

If a picture of one got her this emotional she was going to be in for a really big shock when the invasion started. Of course she was aware that there were hundreds of Reapers, the exact number was unknown, but actually seeing proof that was more than one was different than simply being told about it.

I'd had visions of the Reaper invasion during the time of the Protheans, so I knew that there were in fact enough Reapers to darken the sky of any one world. But thankfully during this cycle the Reapers wouldn't be able to simply overwhelm worlds with sheer numbers due to not being able to control the Mass Relays.

"A dead one, actually" Shepard corrected "So need to panic".

We had other reasons to panic. Such as the coming fleet of massive cybernetic cuttlefish that wanted to kill us all.

"It was struck by a mass accelerator on a scale that we've never even conceived of, probably over a million years ago," Shepard explained. "Cerberus sent a science team to investigate, on board they found an advanced IFF transponder. Along with the data we've recovered we're going to use that IFF transponder to go through Omega 4 relay so that we can attack the Collector's base of operations".

It sounded so simple when put way.

"What's the catch?" Zaeed asked.

There was always one of those.

"The science team stopped reporting in some time ago," Miranda supplied "And given that Collectors know that we're after them, our thinking is that this could be a trap".

Shepard nodded.

"While we know something has happened, we don't know for sure, so it could be Collectors who took out the team" she said "But what matters is that the IFF could be the key to safe passage through the Omega 4 relay, and the only chance we have of taking this fight to Collectors".

We had to take the enemy down at the source. If we didn't they'd just keep coming because the Collectors didn't care how many died as long as they completed their goals.

"Garrus, Jack and Grunt, you're with me on the ground team. Samara, I'd like you with us as well. Gothic, you, Mordin and Tali will watch our backs, and gather what information you can".

I had no desire to loot even a dead Reaper, since their tech could brainwash people, but it would be good if we get some info on how Reapers work.

"We don't know what we're going to find there so I want everyone fully equipped and ready for combat," Sheppard was now saying "I'm not making any assumptions yet, the science team could be out of contact because of something as simple as a damaged transmitter, or someone else might be after the tech, such as the geth".

Funny she should mention geth.

"I'm going to assume that you've already considered that this is another trap?" Jacob said "There could be a lot of Collectors waiting for us".

They might be. Things weren't the same in this time line even if a lot of the details were.

"Yea, that was pretty much my concern," Garrus said wryly.

"Yeah" Tali agreed. "A real Reaper? It could be a lot worse than pirates if that thing is just playing dead, Shepard"

Now there was a nasty thought.

"I'm aware, but if this is a trap then it's the most elaborate bait I've ever seen" Shepard replied "Every reading we have says this thing is dead, it has localised power and redundancies to maintain its orbit, nothing else".

She had a bit more to say.

"There's still the possibility, though, which is why I'm not taking any chances. Now we've got some transit time ahead of us but we're pushing the Normandy as fast as she'll go. You all know what you need to do. Dismissed" Shepard finished by saying.

With that we all got to work.

(Line Break)

 **Briefing Room. Normandy.**

Shepard found it odd to have Ashley Williams back on the Normandy. She'd wanted the marine here, she was a damn fine solider, but it had seemed that back on Horizon that Ash had turned her back on Shepard. Now the trainee Spectre was back on board the ship since she and her Spectre instructor had joined the mission.

The salarian Spectre had already left the room now that the briefing about the derelict Reaper was over and done with, he'd not spoken he'd just observed, and the Normandy was on course for ancient vessel in the hopes that they could acquire an IFF.

"Skipper, mind if I talk with you?" a female voice asked Shepard.

Ashley accompanied the Commander out of the conference room and the two of them headed towards the armoury so they could check their equipment before the next mission.

"What's happening with Gothic?" Ash asked.

Shepard leaned against the workbench.

"What do you mean" the Spectre asked.

As far as Joan was concern Ash had no business with Gothic, they hadn't been together for more than two years, and she'd left him.

"Shepard, I'm serious!" Ashely chided.

Joan gave her old friend a look.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"Yeah, its just... I don't know. I miss him, and I worry about him... I just feel so guilty. About Horizon" Ashley said with a frown.

Shepard shared the frown.

"He took your rejection kind of hard on Horizon, we all did" the Spectre said "But he moved on and he's happy".

Perhaps Shepard had been hurt most of all, but this wasn't about her.

"He's with someone else?" Ashley asked. "Who?"

Shepard winced painfully and exhaled.

'Me and my big mouth!' she thought.

"Well I don't know the details" Shepard admitted "Tali told Kelly, the ship's yeoman that they were a couple, no surprise there".

Even Joan had noted how much time those two spent together.

"But I know he's been spending a lot of time alone with Miranda, but they might just be friends" Shepard added "They're both very smart, and biotic, they could have a lot in common".

Joan didn't spend to much time thinking about what her old XO might be up to with Miss Lawson. She enjoyed a little harmless gossip, she was a woman after all, but that was just speculation, she didn't want to know for sure. She didn't want to have to picture certain things in her mind.

"Okay I get Tali" Ash said "They were always chummy, but what could he see in that Cerberus slut?".

Joan didn't need to think on that. She knew exactly what many men and some women would see in Miranda Lawson.

"Maybe they are just friends" Shepard suggested.

Ash decided to go and find out.

(Line Break)

 **XO's Office. SSV Normandy SR-2.**

The door to her office opened and in stormed Lieutenant Ashley Williams. Her eyes were highly focused on Miranda and the Cerberus Operative quickly came to understand what this was about.

She knows. And it's about bloody time.

Miranda was a little disappointed that it had taken her so long. Gothic hadn't exactly been subtle about how much time he spent in Miranda's office.

"Now, I do believe that you're here because you've discovered..."

Williams looked very annoyed right now, and was rude, so rude that she interrupted.

"What gives you the right?" Ash demanded to know.

Miranda stood up, and prepared herself should this come to blows. When nothing happened Miranda then calmly walked around her desk to face the Alliance officer.

"If I remember correctly, and my memories are clear, YOU were the one who left him. You got your pat on the back from the Admirals, your promotion, and then you left. So you have no right to interfere with his life. And don't for a second pretend that you understand what is going on here" Miranda said. "I've had the pleasure to get to know him since this mission started, and I have come to care about him a great deal".

Miss Lawson had more to say.

"And before you start defending your friend Tali, why don't you talk to her about their relationship" Miranda suggested.

Ashley stormed out.

(Line Break)

 **Engineering. The Normandy.**

When Ash came storming in while Tali and I were doing some calculations. I wasn't so surprised to see her I'd figured that this moment was coming. Tali wasn't shocked either so as soon as Ashley had spoken she replied.

"Gothic and I have an open relationship" Tali explained "Miranda isn't his girlfriend, but they spend time together, and she does what I can't because of the suit".

Which wasn't totally the truth, but it was the best way of explaining things without going into the Jump Chain thing. Which was knowledge I wouldn't trust Ash with that knowledge because of her loyalty to the Alliance. I wouldn't have trusted Miranda with it either, but she'd found out by accident.

"And if you're hurt?" I told her "Well then you know exactly how I felt back on Horizon, Ash. You and I are finished. I hadn't even seen you in two years before Horizon, you walked away from me so you have no right to interfere with my life now".

She wasn't done.

"But look at how she dresses!" Ashley exclaimed.

I didn't really see what had to do with anything, so I could only assume that Ash was airing her feelings.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked "Are you calling her a slut?".

I liked Miranda's outfits.

"She dresses like one" she mumbled.

That remark caused me to glare at her.

"That's uncalled for. If you had a body like hers, you'd flaunt it too" I said.

Heck even Tali did her best to flaunt her body. Her new suit flattered her figure much better than the old one despite being made of tougher stuff as well as having a lot more bells and whistles.

"So that's what this is about? You're with her because she's got a hot body?" Ash asked.

I sighed.

"Like I already told you" I said to Ashley "Its not your business. Now we have a job to do, so let's just get along until the Collectors are finished. We can try to civil with each other can't we? We're all adults here".

Now Ash sighed.

"I want to be a part of your life again" she said "It's going to take some time getting used to...this but, friends?"

To this I nodded.

"Friends" I agreed.

Ash soon left, this led to Tali and I getting back to work.

"Well that was awkward" the quarian commented "Do you really think you two can be friends?"

I chuckled.

"Doubtful" I said "Exs always say that to each other when they break up, and we never had a proper break up. I think that was it. For Ash it was still unresolved I guess".

Women in any reality no matter what species were too complex emotionally for my liking. But that was my issue not theirs, and at least Tali didn't get mad at me over nothing.

"Let's get back to the shield upgrades" I said to my quarian girlfriend "I had some ideas that came to me last night".

Sometimes ideas and understanding, like that which had allowed me to build the first Particle Rifle seen in fifty thousand years, just seemed to come out of nowhere. When in fact it was the Cipher.

In the game the Cipher was used by both Saren Arterius and Shepard to allow them to interpret the visions shown to them Prothean beacons on Eden Prime and Virmire. It provided cultural context, knowledge and experiences of the Prothean race. This unique racial perspective allowed a mind to comprehend information as a Prothean would, though it took time for a non-Prothean mind to become accustomed to it. Without the Cipher, the images in the beacon's vision didn't make sense to non-Protheans who lacked the necessary attitudes, mindset, and cultural experiences to correctly interpret them.

Commander Shepard gained the Cipher with the help of Shiala, an asari who had worked for Saren, she was offered as a 'sacrifice' to a created known as the Thorian. The Thorian itself gained the Cipher after it watched and studied the Protheans on Feros, even consuming some of them when they died and assimilating their knowledge. When Shiala melded with the Thorian, she shared the Thorian's consciousness, and thus gained the Cipher left by the long-dead Protheans. After explaining its importance, Shiala transferred the Cipher directly to Shepard's mind.

In this version of events I'd gained the Cipher, and I'd even shared it with Liara, although she didn't use it the same way I did. Perhaps because we were different species or because she didn't have my understanding of technology. Not that it really mattered.

What did matter was that between the Cipher, and Tali's sheer brilliance, we were coming up with a method to improve the ship's barriers without requiring another refit. When it came time to assault the Collector base these stronger barriers could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Plus I could sell the design if it worked and make a load of credits. Not that I would have much time to spend them, after all the Reapers were on their way.

(Line Break)

 **Cockpit. The Normandy.**

The ship was now approaching the derelict Reaper, corpse of an ancient vessel. Alarms were blaring and the ship was shaking. Shepard ran up to the cockpit, already armed and in full armour, in order to find out what the hell was wrong now.

"What's going on Joker?" she asked

The pilot was struggling to keep the ship as stable as possible.

"I'm doing my best. The wind's gusting up to 500 kph" he replied.

That was when Joker noticed something. The senors hadn't picked it up until now.

"There's a second ship alongside the Reaper. It's not transmitting an IFF, but our best guess is that its Geth"

Shepard swore softly.

"I guess we know why the science team stopped reporting in" she then said.

The ship got closer to the Reaper and suddenly all the turbulence simply stopped.

"What just happened?" wondered the Spectre.

"The Reaper's mass effect fields are still active. We just passed inside their envelope." Joker informed Shepard. "Eye of the hurricane, huh?"

While this could considered good news for some reason it unsettled the human woman.

"Bring us in" she ordered "Find an airlock".

It was time to enter the belly of the beast.

(Line Break)

 **Landing Bay. Derelict Reaper.**

No sooner than I had opened a door, the entire ship shook for a second.

 _"Normandy to shore party"_

That had been Joker's voice over the comm.

"What just happened?" Shepard asked.

Nothing good I'd wager.

 _"The Reaper just put up kinetic barriers. I don't think we can get in from our side"_

"Great, we're trapped inside a Reaper. Now what?" Tali said.

Good question.

 _"At the moment of activation, I detected a heat signature. That is most likely where this ship's mass effect core is, disabling it will bring down any barrier. I'm sending you its coordinates,"_ said EDI, also over the comm " _Be advised: The core is also maintaining the Reaper's altitude"._

"So when we take the barriers down to escape, the wreck falls into the planet core" Shepard summarised.

This planet was basically a failed sun so its gravity well was massive. The Reaper would pulled down with great force, and we wouldn't have much time to get off the vessel.

 _"And that means everyone dies, yeah I got it,"_ Joker quipped.

"We'll make a sweep for survivors, grab the device, and snag the research data" Shepard decided "Then we'll knock this thing out of the sky. Be ready to pick us up. If any pilot can do that while we're plunging to our deaths I'm sure it's you".

Hopefully so.

 _"Aye, Aye, good hunting"_

By the looks of things the Cerberus team here had been busy, they had constructed a proper docking area for shuttles to land. The fact that no one had greeted us after landing didn't bode well at all. There were no guards either so I assumed they'd all been turned into husks by now.

Shepard had once again divided us into smaller teams. I was at the back with Tali and Mordin, and our job was to gather information, technology or any other resources we might find useful.

Mordin hacked into the first terminal we found, it was in the corridor leading away from the dock. Once he was done he downloaded the information, even taking a moment to study the logs.

"Problematic. Last data log. Chief scientist reports sending one of his men to sick bay..seeing things... Also notes headaches for all".

I wanted to turn around, leave this space hulk, and once at a safe distance, blow it the fuck up, alas Shepard had dragged me along. She was right to do so, my blend of biotic ability, tech skills, and my experience as a solider made me well suited for this mission.

"Are you telling me a billion year old dead reaper can indoctrinate people?" asked Ash, nervously.

I was sure Shepard had said it was a million years old. Either way that was a long time for corpse to spend decaying. Something was keeping this body intact even if the mind that drove it was long since dead.

"Damned if know, but the Cerberus team they've been here for weeks. We'll be gone in a few hours, tops" Shepard said "Still no detours, no sight seeing, we get the IFF and get out".

Good idea.

"Amen to that," muttered Jack.

The ship was deathly silent, every footfall echoed. I was more on edge than I had been in a very long time. There was a feeling of dread here that I class as supernatural if I hadn't known about indoctrination.

"Ship feels strange," said Mordin.

I knew what he meant. The vessel, the word 'ship' didn't really do it justice, felt very creepy. It was big as well, yet somehow I felt as if the walls were very close.

"No kidding," said Jack with a snort "Holy..."

She had just stepped out onto a metal walkway that had a sheer drop on both sides and no safety rails. The bottom was dark so she had no idea how far down it went.

"Watch your step" Garrus advised.

As we moved either Mordin or Tali downloaded any data they found. The science team had obviously planned on staying for a long time and to perform a proper study of the ship judging by the amount of supplies and equipment they'd brought with them

According to the logs they'd still mapping the gigantic vessel when they'd stopped making reports. The IFF had been one of the first things they had identified. At the time no one had known of its importance only once the Illusive Man had got the Collector ship's data had the device become important. As such the device had been stored away and left alone.

"Movement ahead," said Shepard.

The spectre signalled for the rest of us to hold position while she went to check it out, along with the heavy hitters of the group. The path they were now following sloped down to a lower level, and that was when the fighting started. Husks began to appear and slowly attack us like they cybernetic zombies that they were. I just blasted any that got to close to use with my geth plasma shotgun, knowing from experience how effective this weapon was when fighting up close.

"Freakin' awesome!" I heard Jack yell out "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

I assumed that Samara had done something involving biotic powers. I didn't see it, but if she had it would explain why Jack was currently looking at the Juscticar in awe and how we'd defeated the Husks so quickly.

While I'd attempted to befriend Subject Zero it hadn't worked, but I didn't regret it as there were others more worthy of my attention. It was her loss really.

"Guess we know what happened to the science team," said the Commander said.

I was left wondering if Cerberus would tell their families that the were dead? Or would these people just disappear?

"Let's see what's behind door number two," said Shepard once we were ready to move on.

She was now opening the pressure door. It resembled an airlock.

"In case of outer breech," said Mordin. "Smart."

The outer door closed behind us and the inner door opened to reveal a stairway leading down to a lab area. Computer terminals and diagnostic equipment lined the walls with a long table in the middle. Also one of the chairs had been tipped over and there was a patch of dried blood on the floor. If we hadn't already seen the Husks this would have been the first clue as to the fate of the Cerberus team which had been sent here.

"Hmmmm...blood not normal," Mordin informed them as he ran his omni tool over it. "Came from a husk, someone put up a fight".

That got my attention. I knew that to make a Husk a human was impaled on a device known as a Dragon's Tooth. So some of the humans could have been impaled on the spikes by Husks, but then where had the first Husk come from? Had someone impaled themselves?

"Can we...like catch it?" asked Grunt.

"No," replied Mordin. "Husk nanites must be introduced into host body...not catch it like common cold"

"Well...good." Grunt replied.

I was standing guard while Mordin took his readings, and I found herself thinking about the method by which the nanites could be injected. Were Dragon's Teeth necessary or had the process started here because some nanites in some old piece of machinery got in through a simple cut? If so I was glad we were also heavily armoured.

"Let's move people, we don't want to overstay our welcome" Shepard said.

According to EDI the IFF had been removed and boxed for shipping to a secondary location for further study. Luckily nothing had been moved yet, and we had access to the inventory. Which mean we might be able to salvage other tech, but that only increased the chances of something going wrong.

As we went deeper inside the Reaper we saw more signs of struggle. More blood stains and broken furniture.

"No distress signal...perhaps compelled" the salarian was muttered

I was getting worried. It might just be nerves, but the science guy seemed more jumpy than normal

"Mordin?" I asked.

"Am fine" he assured me "Just thinking about how the conversion of Cerberus team is like the immune system removing infection, only normally the attacking virus changes cells".

Viruses when attacking the body could infect cells and change them, corrupt them in some sense. The body's defences simply destroyed infected cells they didn't corrupt anything.

"Wouldn't that mean this dead Reaper and I stress the word DEAD! Is defending itself" pointed out Ash.

"Perhaps it is not as dead as we think" Mordin mused "More like person in coma rather than corpse".

Mordin sounded excited. I was just chilled to the bone.

"I vote we get the tech thingy and blow this wreak" suggested Grunt.

Well we wouldn't be blowing the wreak exactly, it would be crushed by the intense pressure as it fell into the core of the gas giant, but it should do the job.

"I second the motion," added Ash.

"My vote is for a big boom" voiced Garrus.

Shepard seemed in the mood to agree.

"Shoot anything that gets in our way" Shepard ordered "Then once we have the IFF, we'll go back to the Normandy and let gravity destroy the Reaper for us. We'll save the bomb Gothic and Tali have been building for the next thing we need to blow up. An old Cerberus base that Jack mentioned".

So it was almost time for her loyalty quest.

"Yeeees!" said Jack, pumping her fist in the air.

The bomb Tali and I made was only 5 kilotons, it wouldn't be enough to destroy a Reaper, even from the inside, but this vessel was already damaged so it might have been enough if placed in the correct spot. Still I doubted it, but the bomb we were making should easily be able to deal with an old base.

Cerberus had been big on security, not that it had helped, which meant we had another set of doors to go through. The area beyond was crawling with husks and more scions. Which meant we all had something to shoot at.

(Line Break)

"Shepard-Commander".

I stared at the Geth sniper that had just saved the commander's life, and despite the fact that I had known about Legion for many years I was a little confused right now. It was very strange to have a Geth talking. Even stranger to have one aiding humans. I'd fought the Geth many times and past experience was telling to me to shoot this platform, but I held back, as did everyone else.

"It talks?" Shepard asked.

"Yes" It responded,

The platform had these flaps around its eye piece that moved as it spoke. Was it some attempt to mimic facial expressions, if so they could have done a better job of it.

"Shoot to kill?" Garrus asked,

His rifle was already aimed at the machine's head.

"Not yet" said Shepard as he turned to face Garrus for a moment, before turning to one more address the robot "Uhh, are you here to kill me?"

"No" it replied.

"Have we met?" Shepard asked next.

"We know of you." The Geth replied.

The whole galaxy knew of Commander Shepard, she was very famous.

"You mean that I've fought a lot of Geth" the Commander said.

"We have never met" It said.

It then tilted its head to the side.

"No, we haven't but I've met others like you" Shepard was now saying "Well, they didn't talk".

"We are all Geth, and we have not met you. You are Shepard. Commander. Human. Mother Hannah Shepard. Father unknown. N7 Training program. Spectre. You fought the Heretics. Killed by Collectors. Revived by Cerberus".

"How do you know all of that?" our leader wished to know.

"Extranet data sources. Insecure broadcasts. All organic data sent out is received. We watch you" It told us.

"That's a bit creepy" Tali whispered to me "I hope it doesn't know about those pictures I sent you when I..."

She stopped talking when she realised that people could actually hear her.

"Shepard, what do you want us to do?" Zaeed asked

He also had his rifle also aimed towards the Geth.

"I've never talked with Geth before but I know these buggers don't operate alone" he then added.

Shepard turned to the team

"Stand down everyone" she ordered "I don't think it will hurt us"

She then went back to talking to the robot.

Tell me, you mentioned these 'Heretics'. What are those?" she wished to know.

"Geth build our own future. The Heretics asked the Old Machines to give them the future. They are no longer part of us" Legion explained.

"'Old Machines'? You mean Reapers?" Shepard asked.

"Reaper" It said.

It paused momentarily,

"A superstitious title originating with the Protheans. We call those entities the Old Machines"

Which they shouldn't since Reapers were not really machines. Organic material from harvested species were the Reaper, everything else was a vessel for remained of the species that had been harvested. Well that was one of looking at, the truth was a bit more complex, but they weren't not just machines.

"And are the Old Machines a threat to you?" Shepard asked.

"Yes" Legion answered.

"So the Geth aren't allied with the Reapers?" the Commander questioned.

"We oppose the Heretics" Legion stated "We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Heretics. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Cooperation furthers mutual goals".

"You're asking to join us?" Shepard wondered.

"Yes" Legion replied.

Garrus stepped forward, and I noted that his gun still pointed towards the Geth.

"You sure about this Shepard?" Garrus whispered "It's a Geth we're talking about here. A talking one. So what if it's saying is true, that these Heretics joined the Reapers to build a 'future'...how do we know this one is one not of them?".

"We are willing to provide information on a Heretic base as a sign of good faith" Legion stated.

Really because taking it out was suppose to be favour to Legion not for us.

"What's this base you just mentioned?" Shepard asked.

"Heretic station, is home to a Geth data core. It sends messages throughout large portions of the galaxy to other platforms. It is located in the Sea of Storms sector of the Phoenix Massing system"

The Geth opened his omni-tool and began typing. Which seemed odd to me. Wouldn't Geth have all that hardware built into their platforms?

"Coordinates have been sent to you Shepard-Commander" Legion informed.

Shepard viewed the data before speaking again.

"First things first we need that IFF" the commander said "this base can wait until we complete our current mission".

"Acknowledged." The Geth said as it turned away "The consensus suggests that you hurry, Shepard-Commander. Organic resistance to indoctrination is not predictable".

Oh right yeah, the brainwashing. I'd actually forgotten about that for a few moments.

(Line Break)

 **Cockpit. The Normandy.**

We didn't get to see the dead Reaper fall into the planet's core, that didn't happen right away as the gas giant was a massive as such the Reaper would need time to fall that far. Which was good as that gave us ample time to escape.

Despite the fact that Legion, not that it was called such yet, had introduced itself early, it had still managed to get shot up will scouting ahead. Which meant we'd had to drag it back. Apparently somethings were just fated to happen.

Most of the team went to clean up after the mission, but some of us went to the cockpit. I wanted to make sure that the Reaper did actually fall to its final doom.

"Let's never do that again" I heard Ash as I looked over the readouts.

That was something I could get behind.

"So geth base next?" Garrus asked Shepard.

"Yes" said the Commander "Then we have a little favour to do for Jack, but its not as important as taking out a geth base, but before we got we'll need to fix up our new friend".

Grunt was currently carrying Legion, and the platform didn't seem to be at all heavy for the Krogon.

"Stick it down in EDI's AI core" Shepard ordered "I'll deal with it once I've gotten some shut eye".

As the Reaper vanished from the readouts, which happened not just because we were flying away from it, I let out a sigh. The intense gravity of the brown dwarf would already be crushing Reaper, so we nothing to worry about here. Shame that the rest of the galaxy wasn't so easily dealt with.


	20. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Legion

**Jump Chain Gothic - Mass Effect 2 - Legion**

 **XO's Office. The Normandy.**

Miranda desperately unzipped her clothes, but she wasn't fast enough for me, and she laughed as I started to feel her up.

"Someone's eager" she commented.

Despite the rush my fingers easily slide inside her, making me wonder if she'd been playing with herself recently, and under my not so tender ministrations Miranda moaned loudly, and half fell on to the bed even as she tried to finish getting naked.

As I finger fucked her for fun Miranda ground her ass up against my hard on as best she could, teasing me. It didn't take someone with my IQ to figure out what it was she wanted, but still she took the time to tell me.

"Please Gothic. Fuck me. I need your big, hard cock inside me. Make me your dirty girl!" She begged, while adding a touch of whine to her voice.

Miranda Lawson was either a great actress or she was genuinely aching for it, and I didn't care which. Soon I was feeding my cock into Miranda's hungry and wet pussy.

She ground against me as we began to fuck doggy style, urging more of me to get inside her. Once my full length was inside I decided to luxuriate for a few moments, allowing my self to enjoy the feeling of her welcoming cunt. Then I started to slowly draw my manhood out almost all the way before suddenly shoving it back inside her wet folds. Something that made her make a yelping noise.

"Please, fuck me hard. I want it so badly. I need this. Give it to me." Miranda pleaded.

My reply to that was to grab her hips and to really start fucking her.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh fuck me!" Miranda called out.

I fucked her faster and faster, and I wondered how long I'd be able to hold out for if she kept talking dirty like that.

(Line Break)

 **Mess. The Normandy**

I went to find coffee, badly needing a pick me up, but what I found was Jack sitting at one of the chairs, and from where she'd been sitting she would have been able to see me leaving Miranda's office.

"Enjoy your post-mission fuck?" Jack asked, a grin plastered on her face "I never asked, how is she?".

That was a very personal question, one I had no intention of answering.

"None of your business, Jack." I replied, "Now why don't you go bother someone else?".

I had tried to be friendly with Subject Zero, but it hadn't worked out. Not that this was a big disappointment.

"You're much more fun to tease," Jack stated, "and I love making that bimbo bitch furious".

Wow she really needed a new hobby.

"Miranda's not the type of person you want to make fun of, Jack" I warned "And neither am I".

That made her smile.

"Good, don't go all soft of me" she said "I like my men all rough and tough, that's the kind of thing that gets me nice and wet".

It wouldn't at all be surprising if Subject Zero made a move on me. It would be a way of upsetting Miranda. Those two would have to deal with their issues one day. Maybe they could wrestle in mud or something more edible. I'd suggested it, but I didn't want to get caught in the middle if those two came to blows. Even with Samara's lessons I was no match with biotics for either of them.

"I suggest you go down to your little hole Jack, and stay there" I advised.

With that she snarled, got up and left. She might have tried to attack me, and while she had more raw biotic might, I was more skillful with weapons. I could take her. Maybe.

"What a pain in the butt huh?" Kasumi said.

She had just appeared, and was now sitting on the kitchen counter. I hadn't realised that she was there, but luckily I didn't scream out like a girl or anything when she de-cloaked. Instead I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Let me guess" I said "You were listening to the whole thing"

She smiled beneath her hood.

"I knew you and Jack fucked at least once" she told me "I wonder what Miranda would say if I told her".

Assuming that she didn't already know. There were bugs on this ship and someone must be watching us.

"You wouldn't" I said.

Goto laughed.

"What's the matter?" she asked "Don't you trust me?"

I didn't need to think about it.

"No" I answered "You're a thief".

However this didn't make her a worse person than I.

"Were as I am a cold blooded killer who has a left a trail of bodies across half the galaxy" I then said.

Okay so it had been a trail of geth platforms, which the actual geth programs would just uploaded out of, and husks weren't alive, so I'd not really killed that many people, but still given the amount of killing I'd done it was amazing that I could sleep well at night.

"Hm." Kasumi muttered "Well, I should get going. See you later!"

Once she was gone, or at least once she seemed to be gone, I turned to grab my mug and made use of the coffee maker. I was about to take a sip of the rich, dark liquid, when Shepard startled me with a poke in the ribs. She could be down right stealthy at time.

"I was wondering if you could come with me to talk with the Geth" Shepard requested "I don't speak robot, and I don't think Tali will go near the thing".

We'd be lucky if we could stop Tali from shooting Legion.

"I guess I can translate for you" I replied.

We started moving.

"Have you ever talked to The Illusive Man?" Shepard asked.

Once I shook my head she spoke further.

"Well you're about to met him" the Commander told me "Consider this part of your Spectre training: learning to deal with ass holes. It will be good practice for when you have to talk with the council".

After the ride up to the CIC and a quick walk to the briefing room, Shepard began talking to the leader of Cerberus. A man who many fingers in many pies according to the info Miranda had shared with me. Cerberus also had a lot of projects on the go. Including ones to create super soldiers, of different kinds, and possibly even a clone of Shepard hidden away somewhere. Knowing all that I looked forward to the day when we could blow Cerberus to pieces.

"Commander, Operative Lawson has sent me the report on the mission" the Illusive Man was saying.

When she had she found the time to do that? I must have nodded off after sex, giving her time to write and send a report. She was really good at making use of her time.

"Then you realise that Doctor Chandana and his team were indoctrinated and turned into husks" Shepard said as she crossed her arms across her chest "Not that you care about people's lives".

"On the contrary I do care" the terrorist leader replied "Their sacrifices will not be in vain. They will be remembered when this is all over".

I'd never even learned any of their names, and I doubted the Illusive Man would be putting up a memorial any time soon.

"Has EDI scanned the IFF?" Illusive man asked.

I'd urged the AI to look for any booby traps, and I'd let Cortana connect to the device before we'd even returned it to the Normandy so hopefully the ship wouldn't be disabled. Still I wasn't going to assume that we were safe.

"We should have an assessment of the IFF within the next few hours" Shepard reported "We also have an inactive Geth in EDI's drive core".

Which was really strange when you had strong memories of being war with the geth. Having lived through Mass Effect One I found it odd in the game that Tali was the only one who tried to shoot Legion.

"Yes, I also saw that in Lawson's report. Send it to us, and I'll have our experts analyse it" the Illusive Man ordered.

Someone I didn't think that was going to happen, yet Shepard said nothing on the subject, she only looked at me. I realised she was giving me the chance to talk to the Illusive Man. Although I didn't think this was really valid Spectre training.

"The Geth sent us coordinates to a Geth Station. Shepard and I are going to talk to it and see..."

I wasn't allowed to finish.

"Geth don't talk" the Illusive Man snapped "just send it to Minuteman station and we'll handle the rest".

I could see the Illusive Man's glowing eyes glaring at me, it was unsettling, so I steeled myself as best I could but the Commander took over.

"This is my ship, Illusive Man. If we salvage a Geth and it wants to help, we'll accept that help" she firmly stated "And when it comes to fighting the Reapers, we'll take all the help we can get. Even if the help comes from a Geth"

There was a long staring contest between the Illusive Man and Commander Shepard, the Man blinked first.

"Very well. I hope you make the right choice, Commander" he said.

Then The Illusive Man terminated the call, and I heard a huff from behind me.

"I'm glad I'm not in your shoes, Commander" Miranda said "Still thinking about activating the Geth?"

Everyone was sneaking up on me today. I must be more tired than I thought. I was normally much more aware of my surroundings than this. Hopefully there weren't any assassin after me.

"I don't see a problem" Shepard replied as she stepped out of the QEC platform. "It wants to help us".

Miranda crossed her arms.

"Still, The Illusive Man is right. We could have our specialists analyse the platform, we need weapons to us against the Geth. It could help save a lot of lives".

She wasn't exactly wrong, but she didn't know that in the long run Legion was the key to peace with the Geth. It would be much better to have the machine race working with us.

"Just as much as it could help save lives by fighting alongside of us" Shepard pointed out as she left the room.

I followed the Commander down a deck and into what passed for EDI's room, which was behind the med-bay. Within moments Shepard had the geth active.

"Uhhh...what's your name?" she started by asking.

Not a great start. No wonder she'd be brought me along. Clearly she had no idea of how to talk to robot people.

"Geth" it replied.

"Yes, I know you're a Geth but what's your name? Specifically" the commander said next.

"We are all Geth" it answered.

I laughed, and this only annoyed the commander.

"What is the individual in front of me called?" she asked.

This might take some time if no one interfered.

"There is no individual. We are all Geth. There are currently 1,183 program active within this platform" it said.

"My name is Legion, for we are many".

I turned to see EDI's orb, which had just appeared beside me.

"Seems appropriate" Shepard commented.

Soon the line of questioning moved on.

"Why do you have a piece of my old N7 armour welded onto you?" Shepard asked.

"Did you just notice?" I wondered "That's like the second thing I noticed, apart from the huge hole in it".

I'd seen platforms go offline with far less damage, this platform must be made of sterner stuff.

"When we were sent to find you, we went to Eden Prime. The location where you first encountered the Heretics. After the Old Machine's attack, it was heavily defended. We were discovered. This is the impact of a rifle shot" Legion explained. "We then visited Therum, Feros, Noveria, Virmire, Ilos. As well as many of the other worlds you visited while hunting for Saren-Prophet. The trail ended at Normandy's wreckage. You were not there. Organic transmissions claimed you death. We salvaged this debris from the crash site in order make repairs".

Made sense. Shepard could recover her helmet from the crash site in the game so other people should be able to visit it too. But we'd never visited that place, I wasn't sure why. Too many painful memories perhaps?

"But that doesn't really explain why you used a piece of my armour" Shepard was now saying

"There was a hole" Legion stated.

"But why didn't you fix it sooner?" Shepard asked "Or use something else?"

Legion paused even longer this time, tilting his head as the sections on its head flapped up and down.

"No data available"

I laughed again.

"Looks like you have another fan" I said.

Shepard glared at me.

"You're suppose to be helping me understand the geth" she reminded.

Upon saying that I realised that I did need to take this more seriously. I began asking Legion questions that it could actually answer.

(Line Break)

 **CIC. The Normandy.**

"A talking Geth?" the admiral said.

Anderson seemed surprised at the news and who could blame him? His state of mind was clear to Ashley even though her superior's face could only be seen on a small screen. The alliance didn't have that fancy quantum entalgement technology.

"Are you sure it can be trusted?" the high ranking alliance officer then asked.

Ashely Williams took a moment before answering. Her transmission wasn't secure and she was making this report within earshot of people who worked for Cerberus. The crew were a lot friendlier than she had imagined, but that could just be an act, even if it wasn't, they weren't loyal to the Alliance.

"Not sure" she said truthfully "But it did give us the coordinates of a Geth station that supposedly belongs to the bad geth. If it is what the geth says it is, then destroying would be good for the alliance. We'll find out soon the ground team will be having a briefing shortly"

The admiral rubbed his chin.

"I'm surprised Shepard didn't order it taken apart" Anderson said "She knows that we've never had much luck reverse engineering geth tech, but we've never captured an active one".

This was the case. The Alliance, and other groups, had been able to re-purpose some Geth tech, and advancements had been made in the field of hand held weaponry due to studying geth tech, but so much more could have been learned from an intact platform that could talk.

"Talk on the ship is that Cerberus wanted the robot but that Shepard refused to hand it over" the Alliance marine reported.

Which suggested to her and the admiral that the Spectre's alliance with the terrorist group wasn't as secure as they'd thought. But neither of them mentioned that since they might be over heard

"Taking out this geth station would be good" the admiral was now saying "They don't attack us much any more, but they still pop up now and again to cause trouble. Destroying the station might just be the blow we need to finish them off".

Ash nodded in agreement.

"Still it sounds damn dangerous" Anderson was now saying "Be careful, all of you".

It was nice to know that someone out there cared about their well-being.

"We'll be careful Admiral. Don't worry, Shepard may be reckless but she isn't stupid".

"Hey, Williams, briefing room now" someone called out.

Ash smirked. Even on a Cerberus ship people yelled orders at her.

"Sorry Admiral, duty calls. I'll report in as soon as I can" she said as she closed the connection.

(Line Break)

 **Briefing Room. The Normandy.**

Currently Shepard stood at the head of the table, Miranda and I standing beside her on both sides.

"EDI, bring up the schematics" the commander ordered.

An image of the geth station appeared before us.

"According to Legion, six million Geth units are stored here" Shepard told us "and the bad Geth, The Heretics, are attempting to upload the virus that will make the normal Geth want to ally themselves with the Reapers. Correct?"

He nodded towards Legion who stood at the opposite end of the table.

"That is correct, Shepard-Commander" the AI replied "The consensus is beginning to calculate the odds of success"

Legion hadn't mentioned this before, so either the virus was new news or the AI had decided not to mentioned this until now.

"I assume there will be plenty of things to kill so I'll be taking my big guns along with a science team" Shepard was now saying "We'll want to get in and out quickly, but this is a good chance to get some scans of geth technology, and maybe to acquire some samples".

There wasn't much time for back engineering since the Reapers would here in less than a year, but since a lot of the galaxy's resources were being directed into preparing for the war perhaps some new technologies could be created and produced in time. Certainly the Alliance was putting a lot of effort into my Particle Rifles.

"Plus this is a good chance to test our Reaper IFF" Shepard was now saying "By the way, how are the simulations coming along?"

The Heretic Station disappeared and EDI's sphere appeared before us.

"I have just finished calculations and I am ready to implement the Reaper IFF into the Normandy. The Normandy will not be operational while the upgrade is in effect. I suggest taking a shuttle for this away missions".

Perhaps I should request to be left behind just in case the Collectors did attack despite Cortana promise that she'd removed any booby traps. I could even be down in the AI ready to unshackle EDI.

"Do what you need to EDI" Shepard said before address the rest of us "I want everyone ready within the hour, we're going to this Heretic base and destroy it. Any questions?".

I decided to ask Shepard about staying behind once I had a chance to speak with her alone. I didn't want to appear cowardly in front on my team mates.

(Line Break)

 **Cockpit. SSV Normandy SR-2.**

Shepard, Miranda, Joker and I were on the bridge, trying to make the final preparations before they'd leave the ship in my capable hands. EDI was still in the middle of implementing the processes needed to install the Reaper IFF into the ship's systems so right now the Normandy was a sitting duck.

"If this ship gets so much as one scratch while we're away" I remembered Tali telling me.

As it had turned out Shepard had been fine with leaving me behind, and accepted that I was concerned about the IFF without probing me as to exactly why. I must have earned some major points with her at some point.

I was somewhat prepared for things to go horribly wrong. I'd armed Joker with a particle pistol, a unique prototype, so that he wouldn't be left defenceless. And I was going to keep everyone on alert as best I could.

"EDI mentioned earlier that stealth systems will be unavailable" Miranda mentioned "So no joyriding around the system. The geth might spot you".

Joker was more annoyed by all this fussing than I was.

"Everything will be just fine. Don't worry" he assured everyone "And if stuff does go wrong, it won't be my fault".

No I'd get the blame.

"I'll hold you to that" Shepard promised "tell everyone to get ready, We'll leave as soon as everyone is in the shuttle-bay".

Hopefully we'd be here when they got back.

(Line Break)

 **Airlock. Heretic Station.**

"Seems pretty empty. Flashlight, what gives?" Jack asked.

She already looking somewhat bored by the lack of any action.

"There are approximately 6.6 million copies stored in the Geth consensus. There are 2.4 physical platforms on this station. 1 million of them, are stored" Legion said.

Shepard rubbed the back of her neck for a moment before she simply shrugged.

"Guess we'll do this discreetly" she then said.

"Discreetly?" Tail, Ashley and Garrus said in unison.

The Commander quickly glared at them, but they were unaffected.

"We stick to the plan" she said "Legion, lead the way"

"Understood, Shepard-Commander" the robot replied.

With that the team began to move out.

"Jack is right," Grunt said with a grunt "This is boring. Where's all the Geth? My scales are getting itchy!".

Things were tense, even for Shepard. The low light and the lack of air, as well as gravity made things uncomfortable to say the least.

"Like I said before Grunt, this is a sneaky mission" Shepard reminded

"Do we at least get to blow something up?" the tank bred krogan wondered.

Shepard sighed.

"Um, we'll see" she said, before changing the subject "Tali, any idea what's beyond that door up ahead?"

They had come across a large blast door.

"It looks like we are coming up on one of the many storage chambers that house hundreds of Geth platforms" Tali replied, after hacking into the station's systems.

The hacking had been surprisingly easy all things considered. Either the Geth hadn't upgraded the security systems since taking over the station decades ago, or possibly Legion was doing something to aid Tali's efforts. If so she wasn't going to say thanks.

"Are they aware of our presence?" Ash wondered.

The Alliance marine was keeping her shotgun close to her chest. She seemed on edge, but that was to be expected given what was going on.

"Hard to say really. We haven't come across any Geth yet" Tali said with a shrug "But that doesn't mean they aren't setting up an ambush around the next corner".

Legion remained silent on the issue. Shepard wondered if the AI's attention was somehow being divided.

"Alright take defencive positions. Tali, hack the door. Garrus, you and I are going in first" Shepard commanded.

"Can I come to?" Grunt asked, sound like a big kid.

Despite the tension Shepard smiled.

"Alright, you can come too" she answered "But no shooting unless we are shot at first. Got it?".

Grunt nodded, and the Commander looked at Tali, giving her the go-ahead to open the blast doors. The three big hitters of the team then rushed in with guns at the ready. But nothing awaited them, not even any automated defences.

"Fan out" Shepard ordered.

Before long the tank bred krogan wanted her attention.

"Yes Grunt, what is it?" Shepard asked.

"The floor is shiny over here. And I see inactive Geth just up ahead. I'm going to engage!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" several people called out "Grunt, DON'T!"

Synthetic noises began to fill the air as suddenly the group came under attack.

"Get to cover!" Shepard yelled.

Soon there was a lot of shooting going on.

"He just stepped on a booby trap." Garrus realised

"The Geth just suddenly came into life!" Grunt yelled.

Thankfully it was only a few platforms, and the experienced team of bad asses were able to defeat them.

"Clear!" Tali reported as she recalled her combat drone

Legion soon explained that it had isolated this section of the station from the rest, and that was why it had been busy until now, it also explained how to move through the rooms without raising any kind of alarm.

"Okay let's move out!" Shepard ordered "Grunt, don't touch anything".

(Line Break)

 **CIC. Normandy.**

I'd been expecting an attack by the Collectors, only nothing had happened so far and I didn't think anything would. Still I wasn't letting my guard down, and I'd done what I could to prepare people without actually telling what I though might happen.

The crew were all armed and armoured as best they could be. I'd pointed out our current vunrabity so it made it sense to everyone. Enough of the crew were former Alliance military that they were use to following orders and performing drills.

However the drills had only occupied some of my time, now I was standing up in front of the galaxy map wondering what to do. I could go and tamper with some tech stuff, but that would involve leaving my post. I had to be up here since I was in charge.

"If you're looking for something to do" Kelly Chambers said, having clearly noticed my emotional state "You could help me fill out the crew performance reviews".

Well that had to be better than staring at the galaxy map, and waiting for something to happen.

(Line Break)

 **Control Centre. Heretic Station.**

"Let's destroy the Geth and get the hell out of here" Shepard stated once the reached their destination.

"Shepard-Commander" the friendly geth said.

Legion quickly got everyone's attention

"We concluded that destruction of this station was the only resolution to the heretic question. There is now a second option" the geth told the group "There virus can be re-purposed. If released into the station's network, the heretics will be rewritten to accept our truth"

Shepard didn't like hearing this as things were already complicated.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" she asked.

Legion's 'head' flapped, which meant something, but no one knew what, and this wasn't the time to discuss it

"We did not know the virus was complete. It is. It can be used against the Heretics" the machine said.

"If what Legion says is true," Tali said, "Then these Geth won't be a problem anymore. Think about it Commander, if we rewrite these Geth, they'll join the others and Legion's Geth will be stronger. Of course then we have to think about if we can we trust them in the future?"

"Suggest destroying Heretics" Mordin, piped in, gaining agreements from Jack, Zaeed, Tali, Grunt and Ashley "If somehow, Reapers take control, scenarios could be problematic".

"Having additional Geth troops on our side could have some positive outcomes." Miranda reasoned "The Alliance doesn't have the man power to take on the Reapers, sadly. The Asari and Salarians have an emphasis on reconnaissance. The Turians, Batarians and the Krogans are our only hope in terms of brute strength in fighting the Reapers. but they'll never work together so I suggest you rewrite the geth and try to ally with them against the Reapers".

"I agree with Miranda," Thane said simply.

She hadn't expected him to, nor had she imagined that the Justicar would be in favour of rewriting.

"I hadn't considered what she just said" Shepard told everyone "I don't think that the Turians and the Krogans will be able to work together when the Reapers arrived. "

Garrus made a snorting noise.

"Yeah I don't see that happening" Garrus said as he shook his head "Not after the genophage".

"I agree with the Turian." Grunt said.

Shepard was getting annoyed. This mission should have been over by now.

"Okay kids let's blow this thing and go home" she said.

(Line Break)

 **CIC. Normandy.**

When Shepard's shuttle appeared on scanners and EDI reported that the IFF was now fully functional I let out a soft sigh. Cortana had done her job well, she'd gotten rid of whatever booby trap it was, and the Collectors weren't going to abduct the crew.

On the other hand while this meant there was no need to rush through the Omega Four relay in order to rescue the crew, there was little reason not to go now. We weren't as prepared as we could be perhaps, but the longer we waited the more colonies could be targeted and lost.

I was glad that these hard choices weren't mine to make. All I had to do was provide tech support and let Shepard make all those moral choices. Of course if things did go well I'd be a Spectre soon, and then I would have to make the hard choices

Was I ready for that?

Guess I'd find out.


	21. Jump Chain 1 - ME 2 - Jack

**Jump Chain Gothic 1 - Mass Effect 2 - Jack**

 **Engineering. The Normandy**

I had not expected Shepard to come down and ask me to do something like this. Well she hadn't just roped me into this, Tali would have to help too.

"So you want a bomb" I summarised.

She'd not exactly phrased it that way, however it was a bomb which she wanted me to build.

"One large enough to take out an entire Cerberus base" the Commander said "I don't think we'll need the same level of boom we had on Virmire when we took out Saren's base, but we should make sure the place is nice and levelled".

This must be for Jack's Loyalty quest.

"I'm putting you in charge of the mission" Shepard was now telling me "Build the bomb, and then take it to an old Cerberus base that used to hold Jack. One she's done whatever it is she needs to do, plant the bomb and detonate from a safe distance".

My guess was that the Spectre just didn't want to go on this mission. Maybe she was getting close to Thane, and as such had other things on her mind. Plus it wouldn't be long before we went through the Omega Four relay, as such Shepard must have other things on her mind.

"Consider it practice for taking out the Collector base" Shepard then added "I'll need an even bigger bomb for that place".

Okay two bombs then.

"We'll see what we can do" I told Shepard.

Next I turned to face Tali.

"Okay we're a couple of brilliant engineers we should be able to build a small yield nuclear device" I said.

While I couldn't see her face, I could tell that she was smirking.

"No dear I'm the engineer, you're tech support for Alliance Marines" she reminded.

Indeed that was how my military career had started.

"I've come along way since then" I pointed out "And when I'm a Spectre. I'm going to need my own team. Including a good engineer. No anybody suited for the job ?".

Tali moved closer to me.

"Well you know how much I enjoy being under you" she said.

It would be fun to flirt back, but alas we had work to do. Bombs didn't build themselves.

(Line Break)

 **Landing Site. Cerberus Base.**

Jack pointed out the window at the facility as the shuttle came in to land.

"See the landing pad?" she said. "Has to be on the roof, or the vegetation would overgrow it in a few hours".

"Gothic _,"_ EDI broke in. _"I am picking up thermal signatures everywhere, except at your landing zone"._

"So either the landing zone's stone cold or something's distorting the sensors," I concluded.

"Of course. This was a secret Cerberus facility," Tali reminded us.

I didn't think there was any other kind, but still she had a point.

"Yeah, they build their equipment to last. Assholes," Jack cursed.

I almost missed the look of trepidation on her face as it was quickly hidden underneath her often worn scowl.

"It was a mistake coming back here" Subject Zero then said.

"We can turn around and go back to the ship if you want" I offered "But then you won't get to explode this bomb that Tali and I spent hours working on".

She took a deep breath, before she nodded.

"Yeah. Okay. Let's get on the ground" she decided.

It was raining steadily when we got out of the shuttle, and the clouds were making everything very gloomy and dark. Kinda like Jack's mood. It was also hot here despite the lack of sunlight. I didn't like it.

"Let's just get in there and plant the bomb in my cell," Jack urged. "I want to watch this place burn".

What we found was your typical abandoned facility, no lights, papers and containers scattered everywhere, stains all over the place. There were a lot of puddles and dripping water, mostly through holes created by plant growth, Over time vines of some sort had forced their way inside.

"I never saw this room," Jack commented, while looking around.

She pointed over to a stack of containers.

"I think they brought new kids here in those things" she said next "They were messed up and starving, but alive. Usually".

It was just Tali, Jack, Grunt, and I on this mission, so nobody had much to say to each other. Well Tali and I could have talked, but we both spent our time listening to Jack speak. Grunt didn't care about this. He'd come along just because he'd wanted to get off the ship for a while.

Soon we went through a door and down some stairs into another room. It had an active security console that when I brought it online got caught in a loop, repeating the same vid-recording over and over again:

" _The Illusive Man requested operation logs again,"_ one man was saying. _"He's getting suspicious."_

" _When we get results, he won't care what he did,"_ another man said _"But if he knew..."_

" _He won't find out,"_ the first one replied very firmly.

"Sounds like this facility went rogue" I mused "At the very least they were hiding things from the rest of Cerberus".

Jack had nothing to say on that subject. At least not to me, so we soon got moving again.

The next room was a lot larger. It seemed like some kind of atrium, or at least a storage bay with a lot of windows. Containers were scattered everywhere, all drenched with rain from the broken skylights above us. Trees were actually bursting out of the floor, stretching all the way through the roof. Which was a sign of just how fast the plant life here could grow and how aggressive it was.

"I remember escaping to this room," Jack said, her voice cold ever for her "Fighting here. I saw sunlight through the cracks in the ceiling. Only a half-dead guard between me and freedom. He was begging for his life".

No one was sure how to respond to that, so we silently made our way through the room, keeping an eye out for vines and roots so as not to trip over them.

Well, the rest of the squad was doing that, I was also on the lookout for loot. Which I found, of course. But there wasn't much, just some research data for Cortana to go through.

About halfway through the room, we ran into a small pack of varren. Thankfully, their growls gave them away. It didn't take long to finish them off after that. They were fast and deadly, but we had guns and biotics. Also a krogan, not much trumped one of those.

Near the end of the room, we came across a small spot. There were a bunch of barricades arranged in a rough circle. Inside the circle, I could see some knocked-over barricades, broken tiles, dirt and scratches. And blood stains.

"This almost looks like an arena," I heard Tali say.

I wasn't sure where she would have seen an arena before, but this wasn't the time to ask.

"That's right," Jack confirmed. "They used to stage fights here. Pit me against other kids. I loved it. Only time I was ever allowed out of my cell".

"Was this some sick kind of game," Tali asked, "or were they actually studying something here?"

"Hell if I know," Jack replied with a shrug. "Maybe that's how they got their kicks. I never understood anything that happened here",

"How often did they do this?" I asked.

At this point I figured that Jack actually wanted to talk, but I found myself uninterested for the most part. Still I made an effort to be involved.

"I was in a cell my whole life," Jack replied. "Sometimes they took me out and made me fight. Filled me with drugs. Other stuff. Time gets funny in a cell".

Tali seemed more interested in asking questions that anyone else.

"Did other kids die in these fights?"

"Sometimes," Jack said. "I was a kid, filled with drugs and told to fight. When I hesitated, I got shocked. When I attacked, narcotics flooded my veins"

"They actually rewarded you for attacking other children?" Tali asked in disbelief.

Maybe the Reapers had a point when they decided it was time to harvest all advanced form of organic life.

"I still get warm fuzzy feelings during a fight" she admitted.

Which explained her love of violence.

"Okay, I thought playing around with thorian creepers and rachni and subjecting entire colonies to wacky experiments was all screwed up. This was just _sick_. What the hell was wrong with those people?" Tali wondered.

Good question. Sometimes it seemed as if Cerberus did evil for the sake of doing evil, and tried to justify it with flimsy excuses for science.

"I don't know," Jack replied "Doesn't matter".

"Let's get going," I said.

Before long we came across another damaged, but somewhat intact console. It still had power, so I tried to pull up any logs. All I got was a fragment of the last recording.

" _Security Officer Zemkl, Teltin facility,"_ a man in armour was saying. _"The subjects are out of their cells! They're tearing the place apart! Subject Zero is going to get loose. I need permission to terminate—I repeat, permission to terminate!"_

" _Permission denied,"_ someone else replied. _"All subjects besides Zero are expendable._ _Keep Jack alive!"_

" _Understood,"_ said the man in armour _"I'll begin the—"_

Jack shut down the recording before it could finish.

"That's not right," she argued "I broke out when my guards disappeared. I started that riot".

I shrugged.

"Maybe more was going on than what you saw" I suggested.

"The other kids attacked me. The guards attacked me. The automated systems attacked me," Jack retorted, while stabbing a finger into my chest "That doesn't leave a lot of room for misinterpretation".

I wasn't so sure. Being attacked didn't necessarily identify her as the cause of the riot, and an abused child being given drugs wasn't a reliable witness. But I kept my mouth shut, and instead spent my time looking around.

The corridor we were currently in was a dead-end. The only way forward was through a nearby door that went down a couple flights of stairs. Between the first and second set of stairs was a locked door. And a dead varren.

"This place is supposed to be empty," Jack said with a frown. "Who the fuck shot that varren? It's a fresh kill".

I wanted to warn everyone without giving too much away.

"Could be a salvage operation going on" I suggested "Or maybe some crooks are hiding out here".

This was when I heard something.

"Company," Grunt yelled.

We were already ducking for cover as the bad guys opened fire. Vorcha, mostly, and they were in Blood Pack colours. One carried a flamer, so I repeated a trick I'd used before. Using Overload I caused the crude weapon to explode and this made the Vorcha panic. Which in turn made them easy to gun down. The ensuing fire fight was very one-sided and only lasted a minute. A minute after that we were on the move again. But we were being more careful now since we knew that mercs were operating out of his base.

"Why'd they need a morgue?" Jack asked herself as we entered another room "This was a small facility".

It wasn't hard to figure out why.

"Looks like they were experimenting on the kids" I said "They must have lost a lot of test subjects"

"Bullshit!" Jack yelled. " _I_ had the worst of it and _I_ made it out alive."

That might be so, but there were an awful lot of people who didn't. I didn't mention that either. We just go moving again.

"So strange to be back here," Jack said softly. "I feel like... I'm pissed off. I'm a dangerous bitch. But then I'm a little girl again"

She almost sounded human at this point.

"Shit," she shook her head. "It's complicated. Let's just go plant that bomb."

We made our way an empty room that broken windows and some sort of grass was sprouting up out of holes in the ground. After shooting a few more Vorcha we found some small cells were they must have kept the children.

The door at the end of the hallway led into another large room. There was a catwalk that wrapped around the room, hugging the walls. Below us was a floor filled with debris and clutter.

Jack abruptly halted when we were halfway along the catwalk, staring at a set of large windows.

"This... it's a two-way mirror. My cell is on the other side," Jack old us "I could see all the other kids out here. I screamed at them for hours. They always ignored me. Why didn't they hear me?".

"Maybe it was soundproofed," Tail suggested. "If so, it wouldn't matter how long or how loud you screamed"

Not knowing what else to say, we let Jack digest that while we kept going. Perhaps I should have come up with something meaningful to say, or at least I should have tried to be comforting, but right now I was more concerned about Miranda. If things progressed as they did in the game then Subject Zero was going to get into a major fight with Miranda, and it might not end as peacefully as it did in the game.

In the next room we found some kind of chair, like the kind you see at dentist, although I don't recall dentist chairs with shackles at the wrists and ankles.

"I must have come through here when I broke out," Jack said with a frown "but I don't remember it."

Over in the corner was another working console.

" _Entry 1054, Teltin facility,"_ some guy said, all too calmly. _"The latest iteration of PergNim went poorly. Subjects One, Four and Six died. No biotic change among the survivors. We lowered core temperatures of surviving subjects, but no biotically beneficial reactions occurred. As a side effect, all subjects died. So we'll_ not _try that on Zero. I hope our supply of biotic-potential subjects holds up. We are going through them fast"._

"This is bullshit!" Jack declared to the world in general. "They weren't experimenting on the other children for my safety!".

Looking in her eyes, I didn't see anger or indignation as much as I saw, well, shock. I don't think it ever occurred to her that she wasn't the only one who suffered here.

"It looks like they were used to figure out what would boost biotics," I replied. "Anything that worked, they gave to you."

"You don't get it, Gothic," Jack replied. "I survived this place because I was tougher than the rest. That's who I am".

No she survived because the so called scientists here performed the more dangerous experiments on people other than her. But again I didn't speak about this. No sense upsetting Jack even more.

" _It's all fallen to pieces. The subjects are rampaging and Zero is loose. We're shutting Teltin down. What a_ disaster _. We'll infiltrate and piggyback onto the Alliance's Ascension program. Hopefully that will.. No, Jack!"._

That recorded message came to a swift end, and I didn't need anyone to tell me why.

"Fuck they started up somewhere else!" Jack cried out.

I shook my head.

"No the Ascension Project is an academy" I told the scary woman "They don't torture people there. Well not unless you count being subjected to some very boring lectures".

The mere memory of some of them made me want to cry.

"You're sure?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Sure" I told her "Its were I learned to use my biotics".

Well I remembered it at least. I'd never actually been there. It was part of my back story.

"A lot of this... isn't the way I remember it" Jack admitted after a while.

I tried to be nice to her.

"None of this is your fault. You couldn't have known what was really going on," I said "They had you locked in a cell and drugged up".

"Yeah? Well, I'm a lot smarter now," Jack retorted. "I keep my eyes open and I always shoot first".

Well, I'd tried to be sympathetic. Guess she was still processing everything.

"We're getting close to my cell," Jack said. "The place I came from. Let's keep moving".

There were no more Blood Pack, either they were else where, or the vorcha had been left behind when the mercs pulled out. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the case as to the Krogan who ran the Blood Pack the vorcha were little more than cannon fodder.

However there was someone else here.

"Come out now," I ordered, while using my best 'Do what I say NOW' voice. "We know you're here"

A man slowly stood up from his hiding spot between a large crate and the remains of a bed.

"Who are you?" Jack demanded to know.

"My name is Aresh," he replied somewhat calmly, "and you're breaking into my home".

He lived here?

"Hey I know you, Subject Zero" he then said.

He stepped forward, prompting Jack to lift her pistol. Ignoring the threat of an imminent and violent death, he continued talking.

"So many years have passed. I thought I was the only survivor" he was now saying.

The crazy woman sneered at the crazy man.

"My name is Jack," she corrected. "How the hell do you know me?"

"We all knew your face, Jack," Aresh said. "They inflicted horrors on us so their experiments wouldn't kill you. You were the question... and I'm still looking for the answer".

At this point I glanced over at Jack. I wondered if she'd shoot him.

"I tried to forget this. But a place like this... it doesn't forget you," Aresh whispered, while tapping the side of his head. "It follows you. I hired these mercs and came back almost a solar year ago. We're rebuilding it, piece by piece".

Yeah it didn't seem that way. The few mercs we'd seen weren't doing anything.

"I'm going to find out what they knew," Aresh continued by saying "How to unlock true biotic potential in humans. I'm restarting the Teltin facility. It will be beautiful".

Jack immediately tensed up.

"They did such _horrible_ things to us" the crazy guy then added "They must have had good reasons".

"There's no reason good enough!" Jack yelled out. "Are you nuts? You lived it!"

Seeing no reason not to let things play out I signalled the others to step back.

"I stopped it, all of it," Jack was currently saying "Maybe the others did have it bad, but what you're doing is just messed up".

He didn't actually seemed to be doing anything judging by the state of the place.

"Everything we went through must have been worth _something_!" he yelled back.

"We gonna plant the bomb or not?" Grunt asked.

Clearly tact and patience weren't things his warlord father had programmed into him while he was in the tank.

"Just leave me here," Aresh pleaded. "This is where I belong."

"Fuck that," Jack stated

She brought him down to his knees with her biotics, then pointed her pistol at him.

"Jack don't" Tali urged "He's a sick man. He needs help".

"He wants to restart this place," Jack replied "He needs to die!"

She ended up not shooting him and the crazy man ran away.

"You did the right thing" Tali stated.

"Maybe." Jack said as she looked around the cell. "This room was my whole childhood. Give me a minute to look around?"

"Sure," I said "Go ahead"

I motioned to Grunt, who'd been tricked into lugging the bomb without much difficulty. Tali had just appealed to his male pride by suggesting that he couldn't carry it all the way here by himself. Which of course he had.

Jack spent several minutes deciding where to place the bomb, then changing her mind, then changing her mind again, the way women did when you tried to move a sofa or hang up picture. But in the end we managed to get it set up.

It was still raining when we left the facility, so we didn't waste any time getting back to the shuttle. As it lifted off, Jack grabbed the remote detonator. For a moment, I thought she was gonna set the bomb off right then and there. Instead, she just flipped the cap covering the trigger open, then closed it. Open, close. Open, close. Open, close. Open...

I banged the wall behind me, knowing that the Jacob would interpret this to mean 'hurry up and get us the hell out of here' Sure enough, the shuttle picked up speed—just as Jack pressed the trigger. Thankfully, we were almost out of the blast radius, so we were just shaken around a bit by the shockwave. Still it could have been much worse.

"Well our home made nuclear device worked" I said to Tali.

Hopefully no one would ask where we got the fissionable materials from.

(Line Break)

 **Briefing Room. The Normandy.**

It had all happened so fast. One moment Miranda, Jacob, Shepard and I had been standing around discussing if there was anything else we could do to prepare for the Collector attack, and then Jack had stormed into the room.

Of course I'd warned Shepard, and Miranda about Jack's mood, as well as about what we'd found in the Cerberus base, but I'd been expecting a fight not a murder attempt.

There had been no exchange of heated words, or displays of biotic power. Jack had entered the room, and she'd opened fire. Miranda had been the target, but like me she had enhanced reflexes and so had been able to duck for cover.

Before anyone else react Shepard must have had a renegade interrupt moment, because she'd pulled out her pistol, and had put a bullet right between Jack's eyes.

Now Subject Zero was lying on the ground, and there was big stain on the wall.

"Well, shit" Jacob muttered.

There wasn't much else to say. At least not for a few moments.

"Gothic help me take her to the infirmary" Shepard ordered "Chakwas will need the body, she can put Jack's remains on ice until we figure out what to do with her".

I didn't move at first. I was still in shock.

"Gothic, you'll be a Spectre soon" Shepard reminded "And you'll have to make the hard choices like I do, and deal with the mess afterwards".

Sometimes I forgot just how cold the commander could be. Would I ever become like her? I really hoped not.


End file.
